Solenoid Flux (Rebuild)
by SoapHeller
Summary: In order to save his niece from his cursed family, Kariya Matou sought the power of the Berserker class to crush the other participants of the Fourth Holy Grail War. Instead, he was granted a boy hero from the End of Days and the attention of the forces who seek to make it reality. (Original written by fallacies)
1. The Age of Involution

**Fate/Zero belongs to TYPE-Moon, Evangelion to Studio Khara and the original fanfic to fallacies.**

* * *

**Chapter 1****: The Age of Involution**

It was a sad truth that Thaumatology as we know is in a slow but unstoppable decline, as those unaware of the inner works of the World were getting closer to unravel the mysteries surrounding them by their vulgar means, the power held by those privileged by the correct blood and the hidden knowledge, those magus, was slipping away. If anyone had enough knowledge about the different magus clans without being killed by their desire to keep their secrets safe or the zealots of the Holy Church, they couldn't find a better example in the decadence of the Makiri family. Once a noble lineage from old Russian stock, they were forced to leave their natal lands and eventually found refuge in the barbarous lands of Japan, where they took the name of the Matou. Their knowledge brought them to the attention of the Germanic homunculus clan of the Einzberns, who along with the local family of the Tohsaka and the legendary wielder of the Second Magic Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg, used their shared masteries to create an object that would allow them grant the power of create their dreams of human utopia: Heaven's Feel, the Third Magic.

The idea was simple, based in a method the World uses the Throne of Heroes to summon legendary warriors to ensure its survival, they would bait 7 Heroic Spirits with the promise of a wish-granting relic named the Holy Grail (not the cup Jesus Christ used in the Last Supper) and use them as a sacrifice to open a path of the Root, the source of all, where they could get the power they sought after. However, problem was bound to rise. First they needed fool another four magi into the ritual, who quickly caught on in the truth of the ritual and used the power of their now Servants to get the power of the Grail for themselves and second, the Three Founding Families discovered that once the power of the Great Grail was finally manifested, only one Master would be able to reach their goal, which lead to the separation of the three families.

By the way the ritual was handled, every 60 years there was a new chance to do battle to possession of the Grail and every time it ended in failure for all involved. Eventually the Catholic Church caught wind of the ritual and as part of a truce between them and the magus community, they took the role of Overseer, to ensure that neither innocents or unsavory groups discover the ritual, especially after the third time it brought the attention of the Nazi Party in middle of World War Two, which was one of the many series of disaster that classified this particular ritual in what mundane terms would call a clusterfuck.

While the Tohsakas kept focused into the objective of reaching the Root and the Einzberns became obsessed with the power of the Holy Grail for its own sake, the Matou were struggling with the unexplained decay of their magical talent, supposedly because they never got accustomed to the leylines of Fuyuki. The truth on the matter to some resided the head of the family, Zouken Matou and his refusal to die leading to slowly destroying the lives of his heirs, to the point some claimed he was using their own bodies as replacement for his own. What it is true is that the last Matou heir, Kariya Matou, left the clan to never return, forcing Zouken to find a new "heir" among other magus families. He didn't have to search far, as the Tohsakas were having a problem of having _two_ talented heirs and lacked the means to ensure the security of both of them, so it didn't take too much to convince the current patriarch, Tokiomi Tohsaka, to give his younger daughter Sakura in adoption in exchange of properly training her in the ways of the Matou magecraft.

When Kariya caught wind of this, knowing better than anyone what passed as _training_ in the Matou household, reluctantly returned to face the monster he sought to escape since 10 years and they made a deal. Kariya would have to suffer one year of torture to become a Master for the return of the Holy Grail and bring victory to the Matou as "penance" for abandoning his family, and in exchange Zouken would free Sakura of the horrible fate that suffered all the heirs of the Matou and allow her to return to her original family.

And so, in the year 1997, the fourth try of the Heaven's Feel ritual, now known as the Holy Grail War among the other magi, is about to start and most of its participants will not stop at nothing to ensure victory; be it for duty, glory, recognition, self-discovery, amusement, salvation for all or salvation for one; once more the streets of Fuyuki will be witness on the spill of blood of some of Humanity's greatest legends, those who brought them to these foreign battlefields and any innocent caught in the crossfire.

* * *

As the smoke from the summoning ritual left his vision, Kariya experimented many emotions in a short time. From the grin of success came confusion, followed by a gap of surprise, unbelief and frustration. The Heroic Spirit was not some kind of legendary hero from the older tales of mankind or in the case of the Berserker Class an infamous warrior consumed by unending wrath. He was a young effeminate weak-looking boy who seemed just entering puberty, short brown hair, wearing a typical school uniform of a white t-shirt with black pants and even his lack of overpowering aura made him wonder why he was in the Throne of Heroes in the first place.

"Ermm…I, uh…I…am servant Berserker…" The Servant seemed self-aware of his own inadequacies. "Are you my Master?"

For his own part Zouken, couldn't hide his own surprise and confusion despite his own long life and experience. _This_ was the strongest Servant Kariya could summon despite all the preparations? Perhaps the piece of the Round Table they used as a catalyst was a fake and _perhaps_ he put too much 'torture' in his tortuous training, but even then the word _pathetic_ would imply Kariya managed to summon a competitor with the smallest chance to win the War.

"Your identity intrigues me, Servant." The head of the Matou clan interjected before Kariya could recover from his stupor. "Pray tell, who might you be?" Because clearly a Knight of the Round Table he wasn't.

"Uh…well, my legend has yet to pass in this era." The Servant replied with hesitation. "And even if I told my True Name, it wouldn't clue you in who I was, so…can you call me the Third Child?" An awkward silence followed. "Berserker is fine too."

The old man barked out a loud laugh.

"Precious, so precious." Zouken was amused despite himself. "And tell us, why your Mad Enhancement isn't triggered by default?"

"…Sorry about that." The Servant scratched the back his head as if embarrassed by his condition.

"Sorry about what?" Kariya finally regained enough wits to actively join.

"Well…according to the information the Holy Grail has given to me, my Mad Enhancement boosts all my attributes but Luck to A-Rank or higher…"

"But that's good ne-"

"…but it only activates when my life is in mortal peril." Berserker continued with a downcast expression. "Not even Command Seals can force me to manifest it. As such my attributes are E-Rank or lower…just as good as an above average human these days."

Kariya pulled his lips into a line. Each fact from Berserker's mouth gave him less and less chances to win the war-but he'd made a promise to Sakura. There was no backing down after a year. Tokiomi had to pay.

"Fine. I formalize the contract," He said, gritting his teeth. "I recognize you as my Servant, and I shall be your Master in this War." The Servant nodded and the formalcraft circle flared again before dying out.

Zouken showed a grin in his old face and released a final cackle.

"Well done, Kariya." He said. "I don't think you'll win the War, but I hope you compensate this final shame at your family with an entertaining display."

The representative of the Matou family dug his fingernails in the flesh of his palm.

* * *

"I shouldn't pry, but, ah…you don't seem in good graces with your…" Berserker spoke in order to end the awkward silence born since the confirmation of the contract. "…father? Uncle?" A bitter laugh came from Kariya's lips.

"That old bloodsucker hasn't been family since a long time." He said. "The only reason I'm in this is because he still finds some use in me, otherwise I would be dead already." They were sitting in a chair watching the Mion river at night. Kariya didn't pay much attention at Berserker's odd expression, instead he looked at the boy with his good eye, pushing himself to activate his senses.

The Master wasn't a mage properly trained, but one of the hard-earned perks he got in his efforts to be a competent Master of the War was an astute sensitivity to supernatural energies. Since the summoning his head told something was "off" about his Servant and his little experiment confirmed it: Berserker did not feel like a Heroic Spirit, but instead he had the presence of a normal human.

Zouken warned him about the Assassin Class and their common skill to mask their presence until they struck at their target, but Berserker seemed like a different animal, clearly nowhere close as the old man's replica of how a Heroic Spirit's aura should feel to proper magecraft users. Could this be exploited somehow?

"Hey." He said. "It is really alright if you don't go astral? Somebody might detect you."

"Uh…I don't think there's anyone here?" Berserker glanced around, seemly slightly worried. "I can dematerialize if it makes you more confortable, but I feel that if they saw me they would mistake me for a normal human. An enemy Master probably wouldn't be able to get an accurate read on me…I think."

It seemed Berserker was somewhat aware of his attributes. Kariya's plans of use him as a magic nuke were useless away, so there must be _something_ he can use to their favor…perhaps for an ambush?

"What are your combat abilities?" Kariya asked. "We need to start to planning out our tactics." Berserker's sigh signaled more complications.

"I don't want to disappoint you," A bit too late for that. "so I will tell you right off the bat: without Mad Enhancement, my offensive abilities are limited to things you might learn in classes of self-defense. I _can_ use a gun should we procure one, but my aim with them was always shoddy."

It wasn't as off-putting as Kariya expected to be; after the chain of disappointments that had already occurred in the morning, he'd expected something like this.

"What about Noble Phantasms, then? Do you have anything we can use?"

"No offence, but you can't supply enough prana to support my primary Noble Phantasm."

_Can't supply enough?_ The old man assured that he was capable of supplying more than enough prana to satisfy the demands of most Servants in short term. What kind of Noble Phantasm needed more than he could give?

"It's nominally an Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasm of the size of a building," Berserker continued, as if reading his mind. "under certain circustances, I can forcibly ignore the prana requirements to manifest it, but I'd rather not."

"To keep it as a trump?" Kariya asked.

"No," Replied the Servant. "I'd rather not use it at all. If it's manifested at full power, it would be considered an Anti-World weapon." The Matou Master was struggling to not open another gap in his mouth.

"What other weapons you have." Kariya asked.

"My secondary Noble Phantasm is a spear that can destroy bounded fields, but if isn't used in conjunction with the first, its combat effectiveness is equivalent as a normal spear."

So in a nutshell; Berserker's weapons were a giant apocalyptic…_something_ that was most likely be overkill on the other Servants and a source of unneeded collateral damage, and a spear that while had its uses, it couldn't be trusted in a proper fight outside of Mad Enhancement. Yet, something the boy Servant said caught his attention.

"You talked about your limitations in offensive abilities. What about defensive ones?"

For the first time since his summoning, Berserker gave a small proud smile.

"I'm glad you asked. I should have started from there." He then holds his right hand in the air and manifested a shimmering plane of orange light – arranged, as Kariya could see, in a regular hexagonal pattern. He could sense some mana within the glow, but it felt almost nonexistent; an enemy would need to be within very close range to detect it. Berserker's own odic pressure was still obscured.

"A…bounded field?" The Matou Master asked, wondering if Berserker was a talented magus in life. Personal bounded fields were something that very few magecraft users were capable of. He heard one of the few modern mages who managed to master it was a former buddhist monk called Araya Souren, who couldn't be good news if Zouken remembered him fondly as an old friend.

"Similar, but not quite," Replied the boy Servant, dismissing the field. "this is more of an ability than a Noble Phantasm, but it isn't exactly magecraft. I can do this all day without much drain, and it'd take a pretty high rank attack to breach it."

"Is there anything else you can do with it?"

As Berserker uttered the answer, a smile began to form on Kariya's face – a humorless grin with no trace of mercy.

* * *

Kawamori Sayuna, age twenty-four, an attractive young woman who worked as a maid for the Tohsaka family for around one year, until suddenly she was fired along everyone else by the patriarch since three months ago with no clear explanation. She tried to find an answers with her colleagues, but instead what she got was mostly silence, until the former gardener told her to drop it, claiming that master Tokiomi did it for their own safety.

She suspected something was fishy about the Tohsakas and that she was left out of it for being the new girl of the mansion, and thus she was determined to find out what was going. Such was her determination that she didn't wait the night to pass in seeking answers from Tohsaka Tokiomi himself if needed, nor that she just hit with a young boy in school uniform.

"Oh, excuse me." She said. "I should have been watching."

"No worries." The boy said. "I shouldn't be this late, especially with news about that serial killer around."

Yeah, there were also news about a psycho hunting down families in Fuyuki at night. It seemed that nutjob had a special fondness of killing children in sadistic ways and apparently the number of found cadavers with the established M.O. were rising every day.

"Are you going somewhere?" Sayuna asked.

"Yeah, I called my guardian and she said she would retrieve me around the Tohsaka Estate."

"What a coincidence, I'm going there too." She said surprised. "I got fired from there three months ago and I'm looking for answers from the jackass owner."

"That must be awful of him." The boy said in a tone of pity.

"Yeah - I mean his family are good persons, but when I was there I felt an air of melancholy sometimes…"

"I see…Since when were you working with them?"

"Less than a year." She suddenly went very close to the boy. "You mustn't tell this to anybody, but I think the Tohsaka are in some shady business. Two weeks ago I heard the head of the family speaking in his old-fashioned phone about having _acquired _a relic and that he would help some friends who got stuck in jail for it."

"Y-Y-Yeah, I think I better forget about that." The poor kid seemed not be used to closeness with people of the opposite gender, if his face getting red as a tomato was of any indication. "Shall we move on, please?"

The pair walked for a while in silence across the empty streets and when they arrived at a small playground five blocks away from their destination, the boy suddenly spoke.

"By the way miss, what is your name?"

"Sayuna, Kawamori Sayuna."

"I'm sorry, Sayuna."

"Wha-" Suddenly the boy's eyes shone bright red.

"**…_Tabris!_**"

* * *

There were situations where foreknowledge could jeopardize a mission's success. Assassin knew this, and was aware his Master had denied him specific intelligence concerning his mark, the former magus teacher of his Master. Until now, it hadn't seemed like a problem.

"Curious." He muttered to himself, studying the garden of the Tohsaka Estate. The boundary magecraft that he'd been told expect had collapsed, even though the gems that had anchored it remained intact – now that he looked closer, they were intact but empty of prana.

"I was not the only one sent?" He asked himself.

His Master, hearing this, responded in resounding negative across their link and Assassin narrowed his eyes beneath his mask. There was an unexpected interloper, somewhere in the grounds.

Suddenly, a series of explosions were heard from inside the mansion, with the last one destroying a window and from there were coming out remains of swords and maces that landed near Assassin's feet.

"Abort mission," Said his Master. "it seems that Archer has been engaged in combat. Find out what you can about the opponent."

Assassin nodded, dematerializing himself.

* * *

Gilgamesh had hoped against his better judgment that this so called "Holy Grail War" would be worth his time, but disappointment was setting in before the conflict had yet to properly begin. This girl, his first opponent, who dared to trash the defenses of his new palace (pitiful as it may be compared with the villages of Uruk), was at best an amateur and a normal human at that. He suspected she could have easily killed his summoner had she not be foolish enough to pick a fight with the King of Heroes himself. As an indicator of what to expect of the future, this wasn't promising at all.

"Remind me again why shouldn't I invoke the capital punishment at such blatant betrayal, Tokiomi." Yawned Gilgamesh, as he used his Gate of Babylon at the bare minimum from the grand staircase to fire blunt weapons at the spear-welding intruder.

"I know she isn't the kind of person to make such deranged actions, my lord." Replied Tokiomi impassively, watching behind the golden armor of the Archer Servant. "That crimson lance she's using - it may be a Noble Phantasm that influences her behavior. It is unlikely she's acting of her own will, so I beg again that you refrain of from using lethal attacks."

Tokiomi was a soft-minded fool, Gilgamesh was reminded – a product this wretchedly placid backwater. It was _because_ he was refraining from using lethal force that he hadn't showed the true might of the Gates to bombard the wench to bloody bits. An opponent this pathetic was hardly worthy of any serious attention. Could the magus truly not discern his restraint?

However, Tokiomi was right in calling the lance a Noble Phantasm. To have withstood this mere show of force without a scratch, it would have to be – but he was certain that it wasn't related to or based on any weapon he had obtained in life. Why then the aura it gave off was so damnably familiar? It irked him mightily that he couldn't place it.

One of the blunt weapon had hit the human in her right knee, fracturing her bones there. Yet she somehow ignored it and forced herself to her feet, readying her polearm. Gilgamesh made his displeasure clear with a noise from his lips. It would have been far easier to simply execute her.

"Show yourself, puppeteer." He bellowed and from the Gates he brought out a mace to his right hand. "You cannot expect that this mere thrall would be sufficient to defeat one such as I!"

In response, the former maid leapt at him with unnatural strength. Gilgamesh, though, had quite enough. With a somewhat larger fraction of his power, he struck the lance with his mace sending it out of her hands. Reversing his grip, he struck in the solar plexus with his hilt. The wench collapsed like a marionette bereft of strings and the Archer Servant regarded Tokiomi with a disdainful sneer.

"If your pity for the mongrel is unfeigned, Magus, you would do well to heal her quickly." So saying, Gilgamesh turned to examine the lance, only to catch the telltale dematerialization of a Noble Phantasm.

* * *

Once the battle has ended, Berserker got off the swing at the playground and looked in the direction of Tohsaka Estate with a grim expression.

Kariya had instructed him to force Tohsaka's Servant to reveal his characteristics by any means necessary, but it seemed that almost nobody was inside the mansion (and Berserker wasn't taking his chances with a trained magus), he was already leaving when he met Sayuna and she damned herself when she spilled her relationship with the magus family. While her knowledge of the Estate was enough to guide him inside, his control of Tabris' – no, Kaworu's, he reminded himself – remote manipulation technique was insufficient to turn a normal human in a match for Servants. The Third Impact brought him many changes at his physiology in life, yet completely replicating the Angels' feats at AT-Field manipulation had always been something beyond him.

Berserker doubted that Kariya would truly mind the failure, but it didn't stop him from feeling useless. He'd shielded Sayuna from harm the best he could, but getting an innocent woman to be seriously hurt wasn't his intention in the first place – it was a consequence of his inadequacy to face the (probably) Archer Servant in person. Before the War ended, he would have to make it up for to her somehow.

Now wasn't the time however, pocketing his hands, he walked out the park without demanifestation. Kariya had warned him that the other participants of the War would most likely be drawn to this district for the engagement, and the sight of him turning into glowing dust would compromise the advantage of his anonymity. Identification wasn't something he could risk this early in the War – not if Kariya's plans to pose him as a Servant of a different class were to be successful.

"_Poker face,"_ He thought, aware his heart was still pounding from the rush of combat. _"Act normal."_

It was a pity that the Grail hadn't found a reason to manifest his SDAT as a Noble Phantasm; it was something he could really use right now. Maybe he could pick one up at a store once morning comes?

* * *

"Well, I expected some of my former personnel being upset, but not enough to make them dare to get too close to my Estate at night." Tohsaka Tokiomi was speaking through the phonogram after he examined the remains of his magical defenses. By request of Kotomine Risei (Overseer of the Holy Grail War and his secret ally) he fired all his employees one week before the summoning of Archer and then sent his family to the home of his father in law to ensure there wouldn't be any loose ends the other Masters could abuse. It was dreadful to think what would have happened had he not heeded the warning otherwise. "Was Assassin capable of detect any other interlopers or witnesses?"

"No." Kotomine Kirei, Executioner of the Church, Master of Assassin, son of the Overseer and secret lackey of Tohsaka answered from the other side of the phonograph. Since his Servant was capable of multiply in many entities at the same time, they were hoping to sacrifice one of them to fool the other Masters and let Kirei act in the security of the Fuyuki Church as a 'defeated' participant. "At most they managed to detect a presence being lifted from the battlefield. I wasn't able to perceive it myself."

"Neither did I, I confess." Said Tokiomi. This interloper threw a wench to their strategy. "It appeared to me that the assailant was being manipulated through the Noble Phantasm she held. I would presume that this removal of presence may have merely come of its demanifestation – a difference too faint to be felt by humans."

"You mentioned that the Noble Phantasm in question was a lance?" Asked Kotomine. "It could be an indicator that the Lancer of this War masterminded the attack."

"Or Caster." Countered Tohsaka. "It's said in Celtic legend that the witch known as Scathach was a capable wielder of the polearm. The geas magecraft she was famous for is linked to the foundations of the modern tradition of thaumaturgical puppetry."

"A cursed lance and a magus associated with polearms," Mused Kotomine. "This really isn't enough to confirm our opponent's identity."

"We do know one thing for certain, though." Said Tokiomi.

"And what's that?"

"The Noble Phantasm was used to collapse the security perimeter I set up around the grounds. I can't see a reason something like that would be necessary, unless out mastermind were incapable of imposing manipulation through a bounded field."

Kirei rubbed his chin. "Perhaps this can be used to construct a defense…"

* * *

"I'm not paying any more than ten thousand yen for this," Said Kariya. "it's been in your window since last year, and you haven't managed to sell it off. This is the best offer you're going to get."

The shopkeeper, a punkish youth with blond, greased hair, pulled his lips thin and gave Kariya a dangerous glare. For a long moment, their eyes locked, and Kariya thought things may get violent – but in the end, the shopkeeper backed off and sighed.

"Fine freakshow," He said, lifting his hands in defeat. "You win. Take the damned thing and get out of here."

Kariya laid the bills across the counter and picked up his purchase. At a pained hobble, he left the antiques shop. When the door clinked shut, the shopkeeper ran a hand through his hair.

"Fuck me and my charitability," He said to himself. "a genuine bone mask used by the Hashshashin for a mere ten thousand. Pops is gonna rip me a new one."

* * *

Somewhere, a black monolith appeared in an empty room.

"Katsuragi indicates that an S^2 phenomenon has been detected in Japan," Said a voice. "Please advise."

Moments later, several more manifested, forming a rough circle.

"The time of revelations is not yet at hand," Said another voice. "We must investigate this."

"Where did the disturbance occur?"

A satellite image lit up in the center of the circle.

"The city of Fuyuki, southwest of Tokyo." Replied the voice of the first monolith.

"The Einzberns' pet project then…something must be done about this. Can we make use of the Overseer assigned by the Vatican?"

"If my recollection does not fail me, Kotomine Risei is a loose cannon. He cannot be trusted."

A smooth, black pulpit appeared in the empty spot at the head of the room. At the top, there was an elderly German man in a business suit, sitting with his hands folded before his face.

"Let us send Ikari," He said. "even if she knows nothing of the truth of this world, she should be resourceful enough to contain the situation."

"A test for her?"

"Indeed."

* * *

**Berserker**

True Name: "Third Child"

Master: Matou Kariya.

Gender: Male.

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Strength: E- (A)

Endurance: E- (A)

Agility: E- (A)

Mana: C (A)

Luck: D

**Description:**

A nameless pilot of the End of Days, who defended mankind from the enemy known as the Aristoteles. Though many considered him a savior within his own lifetime, he was unable to obtain any true acknowledgement from those closest to him before it was too late. In the end, his fate was steeped in bloodshed and sorrow.

**Skills:**

**Mad Enhancement** – Rank E-~A: Activation conditional to mortal peril. Deactivates upon successful conclusion of conflict, followed by a recovery period of a length dependent on the Master's prana supply. During activation; Monstrous Strength, Mental Pollution and Battle Continuation equivalent at Rank A are exhibited. A more minimal manifestation of this skill – known as **Alaya's Nemesis **– may be consciously accessed, but the Servant is reluctant to activate it except under extremes circumstances.

**Territory Creation** – Rank A (A++): Construction of a mobile spatial quarantine that rejects foreign phenomenon up to a low divine Rank. During Mad Enhancement, the ability gains offensive projectile properties. Shares some characteristics with Reality Marble construction.

**Divinity **(Strange) – Rank C: Attribute of unspecified origin, which notably does not conflict with Monstrous Strength effects during Mad Enhancement. Limited resistance against divine phenomenon.

**Powerless Shell** – Rank C (-) As the exact identity of the Servant was suppressed within his lifetime, he was effectively an Unknown Hero despite his legend. Perhaps (?) in consequence, it's difficult to perceive him as a Heroic Spirit even with knowledge of his status as a Servant. The effect extends somewhat to prevent Master's Perspective ability from directly reading the attributes of the Servant Noble Phantasms, but it is cancelled during Mad Enhancement.

**Self-Modification** – Rank - (A): Enabled during Mad Enhancement. The Servant obtains the ability to repair injuries by incorporating into his own flesh the body parts of his opponents.

**Noble Phantasms:**

**The Beast**/**O-Ni System.**

Rank: B (EX)

Type: Support (Anti-Fortress/Anti-World)

A monstrous cyborg capable of initiating the End of Days. Support of the Noble Phantasm is beyond the prana supply of the average magecraft user, but under specific circumstances, Berserker can force it into a self-sufficient state. Under standard functionality, the Noble Phantasm greatly magnifies the scale of the Servant's actions. In minimal manifestation, it may appear as a human-scaled personal armor during Mad Enhancement.

**Lancea Longini**/**The Tree of Creation.**

Rank: C (EX)

Type: Anti-Barrier (Anti-Fortress/Anti-World)

An organic red lance with a double-pronged blade; a conceptual weapon. At the Noble Phantasm's minimal level of manifestation, it is merely a polearm of uncommon robustness of construct, capable of annihilating bounded fields and certain magical phenomenon on contact. Full manifestation can only occur when used in conjunction with The Beast, whereupon the weapon becomes capable of absorbing the spirits of Aristoteles. It is an artifact central to the initiation of the End of Days.

**Progressive Knife**

Rank: - (A)

Type: Anti-Unit.

A knife of standard appearance. If supplied with energy, the blade vibrates at supersonic frequencies, enabling better cutting power. Full manifestation in conjunction with The Beast raises attack power substantially. Strictly speaking, however, it does not qualify as a Noble Phantasm.

* * *

**So to anyone familiar with the original fanstory may be asking "why are you writing this?", my answer is pretty much "I'm bummed the original died when it was getting good and my PC with my other stories is in repairs."**

**Since I haven't talked with the OG author (don't know how), for now the first chapters would be a mix of copy-paste of the original ones and stuff of my own, then when it gets after the events of the fic, the writting would be 100% mine.**

**And just in case, Shin...I mean Berserker is from the original Evangelion anime, stuff of the Rebuild movies and other spin-offs may be mentioned ("thanks" Kaleidoscope Magic), but don't expect it to take a big part of the plot unless stated otherwise.**

**With that said, please read & review.**

**12/01/2020 EDIT: While reading the Fate/Zero LN to get a better idea of the characters and timeline, I noticed some goofs around the sequence of Tokiomi firing his staff/sending his family away/Gilgamesh's summoning... but now they are fixed.**


	2. You are (Not) a Hassan

**Apologies in advance if this part feels too copy-pasted compared with the original one. I hope I can make it less so in chapter 3.**

* * *

**Chapter 2:**** You are (Not) a Hassan.**

The kitchen wasn't spotlessly clean, but it managed to not have a particularly lived-in atmosphere. The times Kariya had been permitted to return to the condo during the last year, he'd subsisted mostly of instant noodles and canned food – far too drained to attempt cooking. Still, Berserker made sure the place was at least clean of rotten food and garbage (saying it sometimes helped in clear his mind), and that was enough to make it a place for discussion of strategy.

Under the lamp, a map of Fuyuki was spread out upon the dining table, with seemingly random lines drawn clear across it in yellow highlighter. At several of the conjunctions, circles had been drawn with a red ballpoint pen.

"These are the mayor leylines in Fuyuki." Said Kariya. "Generally, to make easy use of the environmental mana that flows through them, mages choose leyline junctions as the sites of ritual and bounded fields."

Berserker, who sat at the opposite end of the table, distractedly nodded his comprehension. Kariya frowned slightly at the response, but pushed on.

"I spent the better part of the night scouting out the major junctions in the city for bounded fields," He said. "only managed to find two noticeable ones besides the ones at my old man's house and at Tohsaka's place." He pointed his pen at the location of the Fuyuki Church. "Here." Moving the tip south to the downtown area of Shinto, he stopped at the Fuyuki Grand Hyatt. "And here."

"The first one's where the Overseer is, right?" Asked Berserker, still a bit confused about the more than usual presence of Christians in the region.

"Yeah." Replied Kariya. "We don't need to look very deeply into that one. The other one though…I'm guessing one of the Masters from out of town set up shop in the hotel they're staying at. It's a pretty bold move, just announcing their presence at the largest leyline junction in town."

"So, none of the other Masters have set up bounded fields, then?"

"At the obvious locations, at least." Kariya pointed at the location of his apartment, in eastern Shinto. None of the highlighter lines crossed it. "This is where we are right now. I've got a basic perimeter set up around the apartment building, but it's weak enough that it's barely detectable if you don't know it's there. Our other opponents are either taking the same precautions than us or they put their bases outside the city limits."

"What about finding this place using other methods, then? Can't they just look up your address in a public record or something?"

Kariya couldn't help but smile in pride – but the dead side of his face was as unresponsive as ever, and the resulting grin was haggardly grotesque. It was amusing that a Heroic Spirit of another era could be so well-versed in the societal workings of this one.

"I own this flat, but isn't listed under my name. Arranged for it last year, when I found out I'd be participating in the War."

"Is that even legal?" Asked Berserker with skepticism in his face.

"I'm a freelance journalist," Said Kariya. "You don't survive in this trade without making a few connections where it counts."

Freelance journalist, one of the type of jobs that are about snooping around things others doesn't want to show to the public. That must be why his Master reminded Berserker of Kaji Ryouji - they both had an air melancholic and somewhat shady, but underlain by a wholehearted dedication.

"More importantly though," Continued Kariya, tapping the location of the Grand Hyatt on the map. "this person is gonna be our next target."

"Hold on." Said Berserker. "Didn't you said we were going after Tohsaka first?"

"That was the plan, but going by how the fight with Archer went yesterday, I'm not sure we can take them. It's better to let the other Servants to wear him out."

Berserker sighed. "My fault for performing so badly."

"It actually doesn't have anything to do with your abilities."

"Huh?"

Rather than answering, Kariya pointed at his own eyes. "You know about the Master's Perspective?"

"You mean, how you're able to visually identify the attributes and rankings of the other Servants?" Asked Berserker. "Wait…You were looking in on the battle through that girl's eyes like I was?"

Kariya nodded. "Archer's base attributes are mostly in the A and B Ranks, while those blades and maces he fired at you were Noble Phantasms of E Rank. He clearly hasn't show his trump card yet." He explained. "Point is, if he's got something A Rank or higher hidden up his sleeve, even if you went there and managed to get yourself injured enough to activate Mad Enhancement, there still wouldn't be any surefire guarantee that you'd win."

Limply, Berserker looked down across the map. He'd wanted to be useful to Kariya, but this first battle only managed to demonstrate his impotence. It really didn't seem as if dying and be reborn as a so-called 'Heroic Spirit' had made him any more competent that he'd ever been as a mortal.

"That tactic you used," Said Kariya. "I think the trial run at Tohsaka's place was pretty successful." Sabotaging all those bounded fields with the lance must have been at least a non-minor blow at Tokiomi's ego. "This time, we should find ourselves somebody from the senior hotel staf-"

"No," Said Berserker. The word wasn't loudly uttered, but it carried a weight of finality.

'_Ah._' Thought Kariya. '_That's why._'

It was difficult to comprehend why a Heroic Spirit of the Berserker Class would be so bothered by injuring noncombatants, but Kariya could work with that. In fact, he preferred it that way. Before the summoning, he himself had reservations about obtaining a mindless killing machine as a Servant. The staining of his own hands was not something he sought to prevent; he' accepted that inevitability as a basic feature of the War. Sakura's freedom wasn't something he wanted to color with the blood of innocents if possible. If he fell to the level where he simply didn't care, he would be no different from Tokiomi.

Aloud, he said: "If you feel strongly about it, we'll just have to change tactics." Berserker seemed to lose some of his tenseness.

"Sorry," He said. "I know it's not my place."

"It's not a big deal, really. I did order you to use any means necessary back there, so don't worry if don't feel comfortable next time, just say it first."

Uncomfortable that he'd apparently pushed Kariya into an apologetic stance, Berserker changed the subject. "Is anything I should know about the defenses of this place?"

"Just getting to that part." Said the Matou Master. "The bounded field the magus set up covers the upper twenty-four floors of the hotel, and a significant amount of the airspace above. The creator must be pretty arrogant to make it grandiose as possible and I bet they must be residing in the presidential suit in floor thirty-two – the top level."

"Twenty-four out of thirty-two…" Said the Servant. "Wouldn't that be messing with the hotel's business?"

"That's exactly the thing, it's doesn't." Said Kariya. "Regular hotel guests and staff members seem to be able to pass through the field without triggering any response, which means the defensive mechanisms are keyed to higher-presences existences, like mages, familiars and/or Servants."

"So, what's the plan?" Asked Berserker. "Because me stabbing the field will only alert the Master immediately."

"The Grail War is fought mostly in the cover of the night. Chances are, the Master will be resting or asleep during the day." Explained Kariya, drumming the fingers of his good arm on the table. "Taking advantage of that, this engagement should be initiated at around noon. It's a bit of a gamble, but I would like that you would walk straight into the bounded field…"

* * *

On the seventh floor of a cheap business hotel in Shinto, a man and woman played back a sequence of recorded footage on a 13-inch CTR.

"What do you make of it?" Asked the man.

"The delay between the initiation of the attack and Archer's response was small," The woman replied. "I could accept it if he were somehow capable of sensing the puppet used by the intruder, but my familiar noticed no obvious Servant presence. It would almost seem as if Tohsaka Tokiomi was expecting an attack."

The man nodded. "It reeks of choreography," He observed. "if the attacker were truly a foreknowledge of, he could've acted to conceal the engagement and limit his Servant's exposure. Instead, we're provided with an unnecessary display…unless the display itself served a purpose? That would be the case if Tohsaka wished for us to believe in the attack of an unknown assailant."

"The use of a Noble Phantasm suggest that the orchestrator of the attack is a Servant." Replied the woman. "It's difficult to imagine that thaumaturgical puppetry of this level would be achievable by a servant of any class aside from Caster."

Pressing a bottom, the man rewound the footage, pausing it near the end of the battle proper. In the blurred image, a crimson lance disintegrated into motes of light. "It's possible that we're merely being led to construct a hypothetical opponent," He said. "the apparent puppetry may not be puppetry at all – merely some form of suggestion. Alternatively, the puppet's behavior could be directed by an individual aside from the Servant providing the Noble Phantasm. That is to say, the weapon in a mere prop."

"But what would Tohsaka gain by fabricating the fiction of an enemy?"

"He obtains a nameless scapegoat, upon which blame for any number of heinous acts could be directed," Said Emiya Kiritsugu, ruthless mercenary fighting on a last war, dreaded in the world of magecraft as the Magus Killer and True Master of Saber. "an inheritor of all the sins of the world…a perfect alibi."

* * *

Long before he had given up his name and face for the sake of Allah and replaced them with the mask of the Old Man in the Mountain and the hundred faces, Assassin had been an apt listener of stories.

The children of the commercial quarter of his city had a tradition of gathering fortnightly in a corner of the bazaar, where an ancient blind woman would speak of the legends of djinn, magi and great warriors. His favorite tale has been of the clockwork horses that the ancient sultans had chartered – metallic steed said to traverse the skies at marvelous speeds. The sky-carriages created by the men of this era bore little resemblance to horses, but as testaments to the power of human ingenuity, they were no less marvelous.

The station he'd requested at his Master – demanifested atop an airport radio tower in the neighboring city – served a purpose besides satiating his fascination, however. As a harbor of entry to the land of Fuyuki from abroad, there were few locations more convenient.

On the morning after the opening of the War, Assassin's preoccupation rendered itself justified: On the furthest lane of the administrative complex, a Servant's presence entered his awareness, descending from the skies in a private craft. Flitting forward, he visually confirmed the arrival of an opponent party.

"A Servant has arrived to my location with a magus, most likely of the Einzberns." The white hair of the latter was an important clue. "Judging by the presence she exudes; she is quite strong. Without further qualification, I would judge her to be the Servant of the Sword." At least her face was of someone did not appreciate the marvels of air traveling.

There was a faintly silence in his mind, but Assassin could faintly sense his Master considering the information.

"If the Servant you have just encountered is indeed Saber, then she can be eliminated as a perpetrator of the attack of yesterday evening." Said Kotomine Kirei across their link. "Lancer, Caster, Rider and Berserker remain. Prioritize the identification of the former two." He then directed his link to another mask. "What is the situation with El-Melloi?"

This time, a female voice spoke: "The magus has completed the final touches to his stronghold as of early this morning. The defenses are of robust construction, and we are incapable of penetrating the outer layers undetected. The identity of his Servant remains unconfirmed."

"It doesn't matter," Said the executor then returned his attention to the mask at the airport. "put a tail on the Einzbern, but maintain surveillance on the airport and the JR station until all Servants are accounted for."

"Understood." Both voices responded.

* * *

Pulling along the small luggage he'd retrieved from a locker in the subway station, Berserker stepped into the palatial front lobby of the Fuyuki Grand Hyatt.

It was ironic to him that rather than the workings of magecraft – which were nothing compared with the might of the Angels – it was simple matters like the extravagance of the hotel interior that really brought it home how alien the world before Second Impact was. The Japan of his childhood was characterized by a minimalist utilitarianism, and before his arrival in Tokyo-3, he never imagined that anyone in their right mind could condone a waste of resources purely for cosmetic purposes.

Trust his father to disabuse him of his notions…

Kariya was not physically observing this engagement. Being the heir of the House Matou, his face and participation was known, and if Berserker were to associate with him under surveillance, it would break his valuable anonymity. They'd agreed it would be best for both of them to act independently in public. Every time they must rendezvous in the condo, the boy Servant was to manifest directly within – remaining astral within a rough seven-hundred-meter radius of the building's exterior.

This meant, of course, that if a given confrontation required implements that were not Noble Phantasms – like the contents of the luggage, for example – Berserker would have to acquire them physically from a secondary location away from their hideout. It was a bother, but such was the price of security.

Entering a restroom at the rear, he quickly confirmed that it was unoccupied and moved a nearby floor-sign before the door to indicate that cleaning was in progress. Within, he opened his luggage and took out his first costume – a porter's uniform.

A common thing people who summon Servants have to deal with is that the latter physical appearance does not tend to match with what legend or history has registered them, ideally they should be summoned at the prime of their mortal life, but sometimes either because of skills like Innocent Monster, facts being lost by the ravages of time and being replaced by legend or the Servant's own willpower, they are summoned with physical appearances and/or age different from how a Master would expect them to do.

In Berserker's case, he looked like his fourteen years-old self despite having lived longer than that and having the mental age to prove it, which was a bit of an issue since there's no way anyone could mistake him for a full member of the staff – but, squinting a little as he checked his reflection in the mirror above the sinks, he felt like he could pull off the look of a youngish part-timer.

Back in the lobby, nobody seemed to notice anything strange as he commandeered a carriage for his one item of luggage. Pushing it inside an elevator, he pressed the button to the ninth floor.

"Here goes nothing" He said to himself.

Kariya's proposed gamble rested on the assumption that the opponent's bounded field would fail to recognize Berserker as a Servant. Unlike the Assassin Servants, whose Presence Concealment was needed because they did, in fact, possess Servant presence, Berserker naturally exerted the same odic pressure on the environment as a normal human – far weaker than what a Servant is supposed to exhibit and undetectable when he went astral, at least according to Kariya's tests.

Was that enough to fool the enemy's defenses? Berserker found his heart pounding harder as the number in the floor indicator began to approach his destination. If this failed, he would be undoubtedly being attacked – and assuming he managed to escape unscathed, their present plans would have to be rewritten from scratch…

Six…

Seven…

Eight...

He felt a strange sensation, similar to pushing through an Angel's AT-Field. When it passed, the elevator door opened on the ninth floor anticlimactically. Relieved that no mystical forces rushed to vivisect him, Berserker let out a sigh, and pushed the button for the thirtieth floor – a level occupied by an Italian restaurant called Ristoranto Skyline. It seemed that the mission would proceed as planned.

"Well then…time for phase two." He said.

* * *

Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, First Knight of Fianna, nicknamed 'The Love Spot' for his cursed mole and Lancer of the Fourth Holy Grail War – blinked when he was observing the city in the hotel's rooftop.

A faint and unexpected presence had just entered his Master's suite. Not a Servant thought, it felt human, but that was strange in and of itself. The only ones who could freely access the room were the hotel staff, and his Master had imposed a strong suggestion on the management that they were not to disturb him during the day unless there was an emergency.

Who was it, then?

Astralizing, he sank through the ceiling, the sitting room was undisturbed, but the entrance to his Master's sleeping quarters had been opened, and at this short distance, he could sense a faint killing intent.

Lancer materialized through the door post hate, summoning his spears – but it was a moment too late. The double prongs of the intruder's lance had sunken through his Master's hand – right through the Command Seals. Kayneth Archibald El-Melloi, ninth Patriarch of the Archibald Family, teacher and Lord of the Mineralogy Department of the Clock Tower, and now stabbed Master of Lancer – was awoken giving a pained scream and Lancer felt their connection simply cut off. Furious, he fixed the enemy with a piercing glare, engraving its appearance within his mind – the skintight black gear, the blooded crimson lance, and the bone-white skull mask. His Grail-granted knowledge supplied a name, and he understood precisely how this filthy creature dared to sully the War with such underhanded tactics.

"Assassin," He spat. "I should have known."

* * *

In an electrical closet behind the Ristoranto Skyline, an aging technician cussed as he moved the beam of his flashlight across the circuit breaker that serviced the hotel's security systems. Five such units were installed in the building – each situated to protect a separate subdivision of the power structure. A little more than seven minutes ago, something incredibly sharp had diced this one to bits.

"Locks to the guests' rooms are going haywire." Said a grainy voice from the radio in his hand. "Hard-drives for security footages are all fried too. How are things lookin' up there?"

Depressing the talk button, the technician replied. "We're gonna have to replace the breaker. It's a total loss. I'm supposin' whoever did this had a staff key, because the card-reader on the door ain't psychically damaged." There was a brief silence before the radio cracked to life again.

"Management's being unreasonable." Said the other voice at the other end. "Says she'll be holding us responsible for any complaints if we don't get things up and running again within the hour."

The technician sighed tiredly before depressing the button again. "Tell her, that it's her own damn fault for switching everything over to digital."

* * *

Assassin was not an enemy with whom Lancer cared to exchange words; there was nothing to be said to a low villain who had discarded honor and respect merely to attain his ends. Abruptly thrusting forward the Gae Buidhe, he directed the blade at his opponent blade, hoping to land a critical injury before astralization could occur.

The Strike never landed.

The enemy Servant had delayed in raising his own lance to defend, but mere centimeters before the crimson spiral shaft, Lancer's blade-tip was met with a shimmering plane of translucent orange – a barrier as unyielding as stone. Defensive thaumaturgy? Doubtful – Assassins, in accordance to the rules of the Grail, were unqualified as users of magecraft. This was more likely a feature of the Noble Phantasm; perhaps a different principle it had exploited to destroy his Master's Command Seals.

'_No apparent verbal invocation in either usage, though.' _Lancer coolly observed, breaking the standstill and backing out of range as Assassin artlessly swung his double-pronged polearm. _'It would suggest that like my spears, the weapon has a passive or responsive effect.'_

"_**F-fervor…fervor, mei sanguis.**_" Said his Master breathly from the bed, clutching a profusely bleeding hand.

From a decorative porcelain vase by the windows, a slivery fluid oozed into the air, forming a perfect mirrored sphere – the pride of Kayneth Archibald El-Melloi; the Mystic Code _Volumen Hydragyrum_. Warily, Assassin backed away, stepping toward the wall.

Glaring upon the Servant with unquenchable rage, the pureblood steadied his voice and lowly uttered: "_**Automatoportum defensio. Automatoportum quaquere. Dilectus incursion…Scalp!**_"

The surface of the sphere rippled angrily in response – and suddenly burst with countless blade-tipped tendrils, each with the width of jackknife. Initially arching outwards, their trajectories self-corrected and converged upon Assassin's location. The wall that had been behind of the Servant was instantly obliterated, exposing the bedroom to the elevator hall – but Assassin scrambled aside in time to get away with only few scratches.

'_I erred in my haste'_ Thought Diarmuid, noting the injuries. _'The effect of the Noble Phantasm is neither passive nor absolute. It requires a minimum level of attention. If Assassin cannot notice an attack, the barrier fails to respond.'_

He'd planned originally to pierce the barrier with the Gae Dearg, but the unexpected weakness of the Noble Phantasm permitted him to use a far more _permanent_ solution. Taking advantage of Assassin's preoccupation with the _Volumen Hydragryrum_, Lancer astralized and flitted to one of the opponent's blind spots, readying to again deploy the Gae Buidhe when the chance presented itself.

'_Incompressible that a Servant so unsuited to combat would chose to stand his ground against two relatively strong opponents.'_ He thought. '_But these past minutes shall not be ones he lives to regret.'_

Attempting and failing to impale the floating mercury with his weapon, Assassin overextended himself momentarily, opening his unarmored torso to attack. Lancer wasted no time in rematerializing and driving his yellow spear into the foe's gut.

"_**Zabaniya-**__"_ Assassin was trying to make an invocation, but _Volumen Hydragryrum_ followed Lancer's lead by impaling all its tendrils on the smaller Servant.

Diarmuid thought for a moment that his enemy was vanquished and the insult at Lord Kayneth had been avenged, but then Assassin slowly turned his head at the Servant of the Lance and the Mystic Code.

"_**-Umbra Leliel!**__"_ He finished the incantation with a raspy and rough voice.

Throughout the engagement, Assassin had exhibited roughly the same odic pressure as a normal human being – something Lancer had attributed to his class ability. Now though, the presence exposed by the wounded Servant had suddenly became something indescribably _wrong_. As if the surface of the boy's black skintight garb had taken on the characteristics of a bog marsh, the Gae Buidhe began to sink deeper, seemly of its own accord. It dawned upon Lancer that he'd misjudged the reason Assassin hadn't merely astralized and escaped. It wasn't out of foolhardiness or some misguided pride in his combat abilities.

'_He was trying to deprive us from our weapons!_'

In time with his Master's panicked withdrawn of the _Volumen Hydragryum_, Diarmuid forcefully yanked Gae Buidhe free from Assassin's black, viscous flesh, falling back to his Master's side. The boy Servant regarded them, and by some trick of the light, Lancer felt as if the eye-slits from his bone mask were tilted in diabolical amusement.

Assassin did not attack again. Holding the double-pronged lance behind his back, he gave a theatrical bow and existed through the hole in the wall to the corridor beyond the suit. Moments later, Lancer felt Assassin's presence vanish entirely.

Kayneth Archibald El-Melloi was close to hyperventilating.

"P-pursue him, Lancer." He said. "This…this insult…we cannot let it rest…Go forth and destroy him!"

"Lancer will not do such a thing." Said a new voice, whose source entered from the adjoining suite.

"I Have not the patience for your moods, Sola-Ui." Said Kayneth, gritting his teeth. "I am commanding Lancer as his Master, and you shall not interfere."

Sola-Ui Nuada-Re Shopia-Ri, second daughter of the head of both the Spiritual Evocation Division of the Clock Tower and the Sophia-Ri bloodline, reluctant fiancée of Kayneth Archibald El-Melloi and secondary prana supply for Lancer, bared the back of her right hand while smiling predatorily. On her skin a stylized crimson seal had manifested.

"I'm afraid you're no longer his Master, dear."

* * *

In the basement of the Hyatt, Berserker removed Kariya's bone mask and the remains of the Assassin costume from the basket of a laundry chute, haphazardly shoving them into a cloth knapsack. Through with his task, he allowed himself to collapse against a wall, experimentally brushing his hand to the injury on his stomach. Wincing slightly at the pain, he sighed when his palm came away wet with blood.

It wasn't a wound he couldn't forcibly heal, but it definitely wasn't regenerating as usual – most likely, because of some sort of curse effect imposed by Lancer's Noble Phantasm. Purging and reconstituting the damaged flesh the way the Angels did it would consume a large portion of his energy stores, and they were already significantly depleted from the Leliel trick he'd pulled during the fight. Any more than this, and he would be burning through prana faster than Kariya could comfortably provide.

He wondered if he'd be able to make it out of the hotel without being noticed by enemy familiars in this state.

'_Do you feel any pain when you're astralized?'_ Asked Kariya over their link.

'_Much, much less.'_ Answered Berserker. _'Why?'_

'_Don't bother going home.'_ Said the Master. _'Hide the costume somewhere and then rest up while astralized. I'll call you in a few hours.'_

'_Did you plot out our next step already or something?'_

'_Yeah, if you are willing to go along with it, I'm making my debut in the War tonight…'_

* * *

Crossing the ticket gate at the Fuyuki JR Station, a brown haired-haired young woman pulled along her luggage, searching across the crowd in the station lobby for her party.

"Ms. Ikari?" Asked a female voice. "Ms. Ikari Yui?"

She turned. The person greeting her was a slightly older woman, who had the looks of a foreigner about her – possibly half-Japanese and half-Caucasian.

"That would be me, yes." She said.

"You're a lot younger that I imagined." Replied the older woman, laughing a bit awkwardly. "My name is Kyoko Soryu-Zeppelin, and I'm an intern with the local branch of the Artificial Evolution Concern. I'll be your go-to-person during your stay with us."

Behind Kyoko's skirt a red-haired little boy peeked at Yui, who waved her hand at him.

"Hey." She said to him, smiling. "What's your name?"

Shyly, the boy ducked his face behind Kyoko.

"Let me introduce you," Said Kyoko. "this is my son, Shirase Soryu-Zepellin."

* * *

"_Did your dreams began to change, right?"_

"_Yes, I started to hear names between the flames."_

"_Maybe it is a signal, that you should abandon your path before is too late."_

"_I can't. All these wars, the people suffering, you know I cannot ignore it." _

"_But, you never asked yourself of who you were before the Fire."_

"_It is pointless, that kid died among the flames and what Kiritsugu found was me."_

"_I see…changing the theme, I got a call from Lord El-Melloi II early this morning, he wants us to investigate a group from the Wandering Sea, orders from the Kaleidoscope himself."_

"_With what are those old snobs messing around this time?"_

"_A stolen relic of the Atlas Academy named the Black Barrel, codename: The Lance of Longinus."_

"_Are you saying that Jesus Christ got shot instead of being stabbed, right?"_

"_Asshat. Anyway, he says it wasn't the first time something like this happened. Have you ever heard of the cancelled expedition at the Antarctica back in 2000 called the Katsuragi Contact Experiment?"_

* * *

**I did manage to get a contact with fallacies (thanks EVA-Saiyajin) and get some answers that gave me a better idea of certain details from the original and that some of them I plan to use in mine.**

**I also had a hard time deciding if I would keep Shirase's name or just say 'screw it' and rename him...well, you know...**

**I hope that you enjoyed this.**


	3. Frecuency of Wrath

**Chapter 3****: Frequency of Wrath.**

The streets of Prague were full of uncertainly, despite the government's best efforts in censorship, everyone could hear rumors about how the west side of Berlin the quality of life was better than what most would ever dream of. Everyone could tell that in this year of 1988 things would change and it would never be the same.

Emiya Kiritsugu was not here for dreams of revolution.

A contact among the Prague Association, one of the larger magecraft associations under the Wandering Sea and associated with the traditional study of alchemy and the creation of life, hired him to get rid of a heretic among their higher ranks, a scientist under the name of Ikari Hashidate. He is officially currently visiting Prague of motives of his mundane job, although the contact mentioned other members of the _Philosophers of the Throne _– the leaders of the Association - were currently trying to convince him to mend his ways before it was too late.

"Maiya, are the charges ready?"

"Yes, and I saw the target coming out of the building with a female child."

The contract was explicit in sparing the life of his daughter and possible heir, one Ikari Yui. Kiritsugu doubted the old magi did it for compassion in their hearts, such things were tossed aside by anyone who walked the path of the Moonlit World.

As he waited for the target to arrive to his car, now armed with the explosives, the radio in the truck he was hiding began to play _Fly Me to the Moon_, the version of Frank Sinatra to be precise. Then a call from the contract confirmed another suspicions.

"We failed to save him, you can proceed as planned." The voice confirmed with defeat in his voice and cut the call. Then Kiritsugu called Maiya again.

"Can't you make a distraction to let the child be away of the blast radius?"

"Impossible, I just saw two police patrols getting closer."

There was no way then he could ensure the instant death of Hashidate without killing his daughter at the same time. He had to activate the bombs prematurely and in the confusion get his hands dirty.

"Maiya, do not let the patrols get close until I confirm the purge of the target."

"Understood. Moving out."

Then he gave one last smoke, grabbed the detonator and let the sky fly high.

* * *

"I see…yes, I'm watching the television right now…very well, same way as always…the Prague Association thanks you once again for your services, Mr. Emiya." A balding, hook-nosed Russian cut the communication with the dreaded mercenary, then he walked away as the news interrupted a government-approved report about German refugees to informing live about a brutal terrorist attack made in plain day.

He knows _who_ ordered the hit, he knew _why_ it had to be done, but it was always hard to see an old friend die in a such savage way.

Under a hundred and fifty meters of the construction site of Zizkov Television Tower, the hook-nosed man walked a steel catwalk above rows of illuminated plexiglass vessels lined in the floor of the otherwise unlit massive chamber. Buoyed amid the orange fluid within them, eyeless fetuses of human but deformed appearance twitched as the Russian walked above them. On a platform suspended from the ceiling at the center of the chamber, an elderly German gentleman awaited, seated at the far end of a meeting table. His eyes were obscured by the circular, mirrored-black lenses of his wire rimmed sunglasses.

"The purge is concluded as you have ordered," Said the hook-nosed Russian in a slightly accusatory tone, as he seated at the other end of the table. "Ikari's Crest has been returned to the Dead Sea, and as of two hours from now, payment shall be rendered to the Magus Killer in full."

The German thinned his lips.

"Do not think I am without regrets," He said solemnly. "Ikari Hashidate was a good man, but in the end his compassion blinded him to necessity. If not for his continued interference in the preparations of the Balkan scenario, this scenario could had been avoided."

The man of the hooked-nose sighed in defeat.

"What of the now-vacant Thirteenth Seat?" He asked. "Shall we groom Ikari's heiress to succeed him?"

"No. The seat shall remain vacant in his memory. I do not deny the girl exhibits the natural capacities of an ideal candidate, but already she resembles her father too much in character and we have no need of another Judas. She is a resource best applied to a different function."

"You have something in mind?"

"La Donna dell'Apocallisse." Said the German. "Come the time of revelations, the world shall itself demand that we cast one of our own to this role. I can think of no better choice than her…"

* * *

The funeral of Ikari Hashigate was made in his natal Tokyo a few days later, where many of his family members, friends and colleagues across the world reunited to mourn his death. Ikari Yui wasn't capable of attending because of she was still recovering from being one of the few survivors in the career of the infamous assassin-for-hire Emiya Kiritsugu, nicknamed the 'Magus' for his uncanny talent to succeed in the most suicidal assignments that many were convinced he was a wizard.

She was only eleven years old when she lost her father and only weeks later after his funeral, Keel Lorenz spoke to her for the first time.

"You have recovered from your injuries; I hope?" The German asked, noting the eye-patch and the cast on her right arm.

Sullenly she nodded.

"You were my father's superior?" She inquired. "He often spoke of you."

"Not his superior, no." He replied. "We were merely friends and equals. In accordance with the terms of his last will and testament, I have been requested to assist in the execution of his estate, and until such a time that you have attained age of majority, I shall be serving as your legal guardian."

It struck Yui that unlike the adults that had tended to her after the incident, Chairman Lorenz did not unnecessarily simplify his language when speaking to her – much like her father. She decided that she didn't dislike him.

"I am to understand that you are quite talented in the sciences," He said. "but your instructors at the academy are of the sentiment that you do not apply yourself. Do you feel yourself unchallenged by the content of your courses?"

Yui shook her head in negative.

"I see no purpose in meeting my instructors' approval." She said. "The academy's curriculum is designed merely to communicate elementary concepts, and is devoid entirely of practical applications on any front. The sort of science we are taught cannot be of aid to anyone."

For a long moment, Chairman Keel Lorenz considered her response with a serious expression.

"Perhaps," He finally said. "you would benefit from approaching your education from a slightly different perspective."

"How so?"

"I agree that the marks you receive in academy are empty of value, but within society, they are a means to the end of obtaining the resources you would need to implement your practical science. Even if you find no worth in the motions your instructors force you to follow, the exercise is ultimately beneficial to your goals."

Yui frowned. "That feels like a dishonesty, though."

The reflective surface of the foreigner's sunglasses gleamed as he turned his head to look out in the garden.

"Your father did well in teaching you the worth of honesty," He said. "but in truth, all the world is a stage – and it is built in such a manner that no man, woman or child can survive without bearing the weight of a mask. Carrying out our true objectives is impossible unless we are prepared to act upon beliefs that are not our own."

This was Yui's first lesson in the principles of the Philosophers.

* * *

By the year 1995, the idea one could get on Ikari Yui was that despite her maintaining a grade point average within ten percentiles of the top of her class, she was an unremarkable eighteen-years-old college freshman. To be honest, she bothered to expend a minimal effort towards academics merely as a part of her obligations towards Chairman Lorenz. Her energies were otherwise invested largely in the internships she had obtained at assorted laboratories.

Yui's major of choice was molecular biology, but the research she most frequently participated within was far afield – in the relative young disciple of Metaphysical Biology, the exploration of life beyond the material domain.

Experimental works in physics during the late 1970's confirmed beyond a doubt that analogues to biochemical structures existed within a dimensionally higher order reality – objects that were controversially termed "souls", and representable as a waveform structure. Interest in the properties of these analogues entered in the vogue of mainstream academia in 1982, when Fuyutsuki Kozo – a professor at the University of Kyoto – demonstrated that interactions could be achieved between 'souls' and the physical realm.

The world itself, it emerged, possessed a higher-order analogue of a much higher waveform frequency than any cellular organism. Electronically stimulating the brain of a rat to modulate its "soul" toward the frequency of the world created a spooky-action phenomenon within the environment – a very weak, spherical electromagnetic field roughly two meters in diameter, centered around the rat's body. The magnitude of the "synchronization event" was mechanically measurable via the disturbance of magnetically shielded LCL.

LCL – or Link Connect Liquid – was the simplest protein polymer that could carry a soul. It was, incidentally, highly sensitive to soul waveform modulation, and would molecularly rearrange itself in varying manners per synchronization events of different magnitudes and locations. During the 80's the United Nations backed the scientific initiative AEC (Artificial Evolution Concern), who collaborated with the government of Japan – the birthplace of Metaphysical Biology – to employ LCL in a nationwide monitoring grid, intended to observe synchronization events geographically. Several years later, Katsuragi Keima of the University of Tokyo began to further refine the response time and sensitivity time of the grid; adopting the colors of the spectrum to code frequencies, and forging a new theoretical model that mathematically represented soul waveforms in three dimensions – as a spiraling coil or a solenoid. Coded frequencies came to be described in terms of the efficiency and fidelity with which they could influence physical phenomenon.

Type: Sepia to Type: Red events – low enough in magnitude to be regarded as background noise – were in fact very rare as Katsuragi found; he referred them as "poltergeists", and cursory investigations conducted by the AEC revealed this wasn't an inaccurate terminology. Even more infrequently, however, a Type: Yellow would briefly manifest, and LCL disturbance in such occasions was exponentially higher. Katsuragi began to wonder what kind of phenomenon a creature capable of initiating a Type: Blue event could induce – what sort of impact a synchronization at the frequency of the world itself could have.

Ikari Yui, who served as intern at Katsuragi's laboratory, regretted that – as daughter of the Philosophers – she could not impart the knowledge she possessed to her adviser: The lifeform he had so energetically hypothesized of had long been known to mankind.

Since time immemorial, they had been called Angels.

At the time, Yui did not suspect that the Philosophers had systematically concealed knowledge from her as well. The "low-efficiency" Type: Red events that she and the rest of Katsuragi's staff had been instructed to dismiss as background noise were known by another name elsewhere in the world; Magecraft, the science of Mysteries.

* * *

This path led to Yui to set foot in Fuyuki in 1997, where she was currently looking at a map of the metropolitan area that lit the multi-paneled wall monitor at the AEC base of Fuyuki. Her eyes widened at the random splotches of red that covered the entirety of Fuyuki.

"How long it has been like this?" She asked. Had an intelligence lockdown been implemented? She should've been informed of disturbances of this scale.

"A very, very long time." Replied Kyoko, thumbing through a stack of printouts attached to a clipboard. "The database should be able to tell you when precisely the Type: Reds started to turn up. We typically see more of them at night."

"So, something is happening in the city?"

"Nothing overtly obvious aside from the serial killings, but…" Kyoko's expression betrayed a bit of anxiety. "Until word came that you would be coming here to organize a response effort, the higher-ups gave explicit orders to not look up too deeply into it." She handed the clipboard she'd been holding to Yui and said: "I was told that you would want to see this."

Yui flipped through the documents, quickly organizing the date in her mind. Apparently four Type: Yellow signatures and one Type: Green had regularly manifested in the course of the past several weeks. There was another that appeared roughly a year prior, but it had since vanished. In the last three or four days a Type: Cyan – the target she'd been directed to capture – had exhibited itself intermittently, and had in two occasions shifted toward Type: Blue.

There wasn't much information to go on – and Yui was beginning to suspect that the dearth of of detail in her orders was entirely intentional. The Philosophers were testing her capabilities. They wanted to acquire knowledge of the situation with her own skills, and to resolve it according to her own judgement.

"Is there something wrong?" Asked Kyoko.

"No, it's nothing," Yui replied, returning the clipboard to her with a smile. "I'll be needing somebody to unload the equipment that arrive earlier. You think you could arrange that?"

"Sure thing."

As the older woman left the room, Yui closed her eyes and gripped the locket that hung from her neck. She would not disappoint Father. She would not disappoint Chairman Lorenz.

* * *

Despite the fall of the Japanese asset bubble, it wasn't a matter of discussion that Shinto had grown wealthier and more heavily urbanized over the past decade. The recession, however, had not left the ward entirely untouched; the proof laid in the south-western bloc of the business district – a ten minutes' walk from the Grand Hyatt – which was now a no-man's land of derelict office buildings and public infrastructure that fallen out of maintenance. With the police advising a soft curfew in response of the recent serial killings, the originally sparse pedestrian traffic has fallen to a nil.

'_A perfect place to make my debut in this War.'_ Approaching the center of an empty street, Kariya winced as the worms relayed a response from an insect familiar he'd sent out earlier.

"It looks that our friend at the hotel is getting ready to unleash whatever he has planned for tonight." He said as he looked to his watch. It was 08:59 PM. "We should probably get started as well."

Berserker manifested beside him, very obviously attempting to a grimace as he clutched at the crimson stain at the side of his uniform shirt. Kariya bit his lower lip. In an ideal world, the sort of pain that was his nightly companion would only afflict only the deserving – but reality was far from kindly, and until the War came to its end, it would be Kariya's lot to serve as an author of suffering. He dared only to hope what he was putting Berserker through would amount to some good in the end.

"Are you sure you're alright to the plan?" He asked. "If not, we can just turn in for the night."

"I'm fine, really." Replied the Servant in a strained voice, turning toward him. "Let's just do this."

From the pocket of his jacket, Kariya removed and unsheathed a combat knife with an oddly designed hilt.

"I'm sorry for this." He said.

Gripping the blade with both hands, he drove it into Berserker's gut.

* * *

On the clock of the Fuyuki Church, it was 09:10 PM when knocking was heard on the doors of neutral zone of the War.

Of all the people related to the War Kotomine Risei might have to meet with, the head of the Matou House was one of the few he wasn't looking for a talk beyond what was necessary. It was an open secret to him that Zouken's control of his familiars made him a vampire in all but name, but since he hasn't made himself an important risk for Fuyuki's security and helped in solving Tokiomi's dilemma with his second daughter Sakura way sooner than expected – which spared them the potential of starting a bloodshed against unscrupulous magi seeking for the secrets of the Imaginary Numbers – Risei had no important motives to hunt him down like he would had done in his zealous youth.

Risei disliked the idea of separating a young girl from her family, but given the twisted ways of the Moonlit World, this was the best choice they had to ensure her safety.

"Welcome to the Holy Church, Matou Zouken." The Overseer greeted the old magi in an emotionless tone similar to his own son. "To what do we owe your visit?"

"Just informing you that the House Matou officially joins the Holy Grail War." Zouken spoke. "The Master is my nephew Kariya and his Servant is Berserker."

Risei showed a bit of surprise, the archives of the Tohsaka family illustrated how those who chosen the Servant of Rage eventually drove themselves to insanity and death due to the excessive requirements of mana to maintain – let alone allow the use of their Noble Phantasms – such deranged Heroes. He suspected that was one of the reasons the Einzberns decided to break the rules by summoning a Heroic Spirit of the dreaded Avenger Class instead.

Thank God the Servant they summoned was the weakest entity in the history of the Heaven's Feel ritual. He doubted the whelp was worth remembering beyond as an amusing lesson to anyone who dared to break the rules.

"Are you sure your nephew is capable to handle such burden?" Risei asked with a hint of worry.

"I've trained him enough to allow him to endure the entirely of the War." Zouken responded. "In fact, I feel his trials will be different from what the previous Masters of the Berserk Class had to struggle with." He added with a small grin. "Nothing your friends can't handle."

Before Risei could ask Zouken what was the latter hinting, they both started to sense the birth of a great demonstration of magecraft – right here, in Shinto.

"I can assure you that neither Kariya nor Berserker have any direct relation to this excessive concentration of mana." The old magi said. "It isn't your duty to ensure something like this doesn't happen in a public zone?"

Ignoring the taunt of the Matou head, Risei opened his cellphone and started to make calls left and right to his subordinates to get him a clear picture of what was going on. Once he was done, he searched for Zouken, only to realize the old magus left the Church. Giving a small sound of distaste, he went to the phonogram of the Church and made his next call.

"Tohsaka? I think we might have a little inconvenience at Shinto."

* * *

It was 09:13 PM when atop the superstructure of the Fuyuki Bridge; Waver Velvet, student of the Clock Tower, magus of pitiful talent, Master of Rider and someone who might consider stab his own Servant for his current predicament; abruptly ceased his whining, turning his head towards the Grand Hyatt in stark shock. Rider; otherwise known as Iskandar or Alexander the Great, conqueror of all Greece and Persia and to the dismay of those who stick to historical facts, closer to what the Japanese would call a _bara _instead of a _bishonen_; despite not being so attuned to the energies of magecraft, also noticed something as well – a sharp incline in the concentration of the atmospheric mana.

"Th-this bounded field…" Said Waver, eyes widening. "H-he…he actually developed a working implementation…"

It had been the subject of a treatise only recently discovered by Kayneth Archibald El-Melloi – that, utilizing the spread of a leyline network, a standard bounded field could be imposed with a non-traditional orientation that he termed the _Casses Circumdant_, propagating the influence of the magus over much larger regions. The conceptual groundwork that the paper established was indisputably solid, but logistical difficulties and the nearly inhuman focus required to regulate the construct placed in its realization and use well within what the Clock Tower regarded to be in the realm of the theoretical – something that may have been achievable in the Age of Gods, but no longer.

This "purely theoretical" existence was now in the process of unfolding itself before Waver Velvet's senses – blooming like a nightmarish flower of death.

Rider set his bottle of wine on the surface of the bridge frame and snapped his fingers besides Waver's ear, jolting the young magus to pay attention.

"The Persians have a saying. boy." He said to the frightened lad. "If you can think of nothing but defeat before you even draw your blade, then the war has already been lost."

"D-didn't the Persians lose to you?"

"Bah! Don't stress the details!" Said the large Servant, chuckling heartily before turning businesslike. "Going by your reaction, thought, I'm supposing that whatever sorcery that was just being performed now isn't good news for us. Is there anything I should now about the situation?"

Waver forced himself to take a deep breath and slowly exhale before speaking.

"Did the Grail provided you with any background on radio broadcasts?" He asked. "Like what our television receives?"

"Somewhat." Said Rider. "It's quite the marvel, I think. Would've made field command far simpler if we had it in my day."

"I'm oversimplifying," Said Waver. "but the leylines of this city are being used to broadcast and receive signals. Within a certain distance of any line, the spellcaster can sense things, and use the broadcast to manipulate all of his familiars as if they were part of his body."

"Can't you do the same? With those pigeons of yours, I mean."

"That's nowhere near the same scale. Any magus can handle one or two familiars without a problem, but once the numbers get beyond ten or twenty, it starts to put a real strain on the mind. It's like having that many more arms and hands, and being forced to control every finger at the same time. The spellcaster that we are dealing with can do it perfectly – probably without too much effort."

"And about how many familiars are we talking about here?"

Waver worriedly glanced in the direction of Shinto.

"S-Several hundreds, at least." He replied. "If we were in range of a leyline right now, the spellcaster could have them swarm us like insects at will. There's no way we can defeat an enemy like this…"

Rider's face took a stern cast at his words, and Waver was afraid that he accidentally caused an offence. He was surprised when the large man suddenly cracked a toothy smile and flicked him in the forehead.

"What was that for?!" Shouted Waver, clutching the reddening spot above his brow.

"Insects indeed!" Exclaimed Rider, bellowing laughter as he stood to his full height. "If a mere thousand mere insects could bring us low, I would be unworthy of my title as the King of Conquerors! You, my boy, are over concerned for all of the wrong reasons!"

"Wr-wrong reasons? Our enemy is Kayneth Archibald El-Melloi! He's the sort of genius that only turns up once a century!"

"And I'm the sort of genius that only turns up once every half a millennium." Said Rider. "That makes me at least five times the man he is." He lifted Waver to his feet by the back of his sweater. "I'm telling you, the familiars are nothing to worry about. Tactically, the advantage this sorcery gains him is a means to potentially tracking our current position – and if you think about that for half a moment, you'll realize that it doesn't matter a whole lot unless he can locate the home of our host. Even then, what's the worst he can do? Send his Servant at us?"

"If you're so confident that we can defeat him, shouldn't we go and eliminate him right now? The fact that he can have all his intelligence on us probably makes him the most dangerous Maste-"

Rider interrupted with a scoffing noise.

"Unless it's Caster we're talking about," He said, drawing his sword. "it isn't inherently meaningful for me to directly combat some insecure two-bit magus who hides behind hundreds of familiars. No – we'll just ignore him until he starts to make a nuisance of himself."

"What?"

Rider swung his blade, cutting a glowing arch in the sky – which exploded with energy. Divine bulls charged through the gap, drawing forth the Wheel of Heavenly Might – Iskandar's chariot, the Gordius Wheel.

"I've found us a front-row seat to might just be the true first engagement of this War." Said Rider with a grin. "Are you coming?"

* * *

By force of suggestion, they had hastily obtained a fully furnished short-term apartment as a safehouse, and concealed the entire building in less obtrusive defenses than the 'fortress' Kayneth had devised for the hotel. It didn't have quite the trappings of luxury as their former lodgings, but better that they were inconvenienced than killed by compromised security.

Alone in her new living room, Sola-Ui Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri leaned back into the soft cushions of the couch, holding her right arm above her. The crimson Command Seals that now adorned the back of her hand were beautiful to her eyes – but not so satisfying as she had imagined.

"Why don't you understand?" She asked of the air.

For all of her blue-blooded lineage and highborn bearing, Sola-Ui was a magus of middling talent and little true interest in furthering herself. Complicated family politics had landed her as a pawn in a power play against her father soon after birth, and she'd spent her childhood being harshly ingrained with the skills of a potential heir to the family Crest – aware that she was a mere tool to the ambitions of her paternal uncle. Perhaps as a result of her upbringing, in the years following her uncle's untimely death and her brother's succession as the official heir, she'd offered no real resistance to her father's plans for a political marriage to the House Archibald, namely to his favorite pupil.

Kayneth Archibald El-Melloi was an arrogant man-child who, by virtue of inborn talent and luck, had grown to adulthood without knowing a single shred of humility. To Sola-Ui, he was a miraculous existence, on par with a virgin mother pure of Original Sin – and often, she thought that his personality would've been much improved if his all-too-doting mother had only beated him as a boy. Still, Kayneth was not atypical of the men she'd known in her life, and at her father's urgings, she'd resigned herself to become his bride.

Then came the War of the Holy Grail, and the summoning of Diarmuid Ua Duibhne as the Servant of the Lance.

Diarmuid was chilvarous, polite and kindly – and every bit the gentleman that Kayneth merely claimed to be. He was the only male who'd ever treated Sola-Ui as her own person, rather than as a tool or just another pretty face. He respected her. He actually respected her.

There was no point in trying to resist his curse.

For the first time, Sola-Ui came to know conviction: She knew the function of a tool intimately, and it was unbearable – unacceptable – that a good man like Diarmuid would be consigned to the fate of servitude that she had suffered. That his Master was her fiancé was doubly offensive; a soulless _"meritocratic"_ like Kayneth Archibald would never know Diarmuid's true worth.

Sola-Ui had resolved that she would find a way to save him.

Today, by the actions of Assassin, she had obtained the means to act upon her sole conviction. As if responding to the voice of her heart, the Grail had blessed her with the right to Diarmuid's service. With her newfound power, her first act as Master had been to threaten Kayneth with the expenditure of a Command Seal – making clear that she would order Diarmuid to end his life if he didn't surrender all claim to the Grail to her.

Then, everything had gone wrong. Exactly opposite of what she'd imagined, Diarmuid had not been happy at all that she'd ended his servitude and humiliation. He'd instead berated her for act without honor, and gave the ultimatum that he would only accept her as a Master if she swore to act as Kayneth's proxy. If he discovered that she had gone back upon her word, he would see her parted with her arm.

"What did that scumbag to deserve your loyalty, Diarmuid?" Asked Sola-Ui.

Picking up a pillow from the couch, she held it against her breasts, hugging it tightly.

"Why can't you see that I'm doing this because I love you?"

* * *

In body, Kayneth Archibald El-Melloi faced the evening breeze on the rooftop helipad of the Grand Hyatt. His consciousness, however, was not entirely present. By artifice and sheer skill, he had momentarily become one with the metropolis – spreading himself to the expanse of the countryside to derive sensory feedback from the leylines. In his present state, even the Presence Concealment of an astralized Assassin would not permit escape from his clairvoyance.

The _Casses Circumdant_ was not a feat of control that could be attempted without thaumaturgical talent at least equivalent to Kayneth's own – and certainly not without soundness of mind and body. Tonight, however, the throbbing pain in his bandaged right hand and the rage that utterly filled his being provided no inhibition to the effect of the spell. Rather, they honed his responses, giving him a single-minded focus.

"_**Ire Sanctio."**_

Setting the seven-hundred odd wraiths that he'd bond to his command to automatic defense against entities of irregular odic pressure, he'd directed all of his remaining faculties to the identification of the Masters and Servants – extending his senses well beyond the range of his familiar control. Even if it killed him to do so, Kayneth would locate the Master of Assassin and make him pay for the insult that had been dealt.

Of the five other Master and Servants:

Already, Kayneth had confirmed the Master of Berserker – a wretched, deformed scion of the House Machir, fittingly loitering about the city's slums with his Servant. It was pitiful that one of the Twelve Houses of Judea could fall so low.

At the Tohsaka Estate, Archer was demanifest, and his Master was nowhere within Kayneth's field of detection. Kayneth hadn't been able to closely observe the attack upon the manse the previous night, but as Tohsaka Tokiomi was presumably absorbed in tracking the perpetrator, it was a matter that could be dealt with later.

The Einzbern Master at the seaside was a woman, somehow capable of supplying energy to her Servant – Saber – while suppressing the telltale odic leakage that marked her as a participant of the War. Kayneth would attribute such feat to talent, but it was wasted; the woman was too closely accompanied by her Servant, and seemed to have no sense of subterfuge.

Caster was a mutated creature with fish-like eyes, currently traveling along the sewer system with his Master – a plain young man who lacked the presence of a magus. Not much of a threat, Kayneth judged.

The Master of Rider was none other than Waver Velvet, participating in the War on the merit of a stolen catalyst. It incensed Kayneth that the lowborn brat would dare to show his face, but his punishment could wait; the hadn't talent to properly reign in Rider, and that neutered him as an immediate threat.

The Master of Assassin was easy enough to find, surprisingly – and auspiciously unaccompanied by his Servant.

Of the Servant in question, however…

Kayneth presumed initially that he was mistaken, but fine-tuning his senses and performing a second pass, he realized it hadn't been his imagination. Assassin was not one Servant. Assassin was eighty extremely weak energy signatures, demanifested across the city.

'_The Hundred-Faced Hassan."_ He thought to himself. And each iteration was potentially as strong as the one he and Lancer had fought. It confirmed within his mind that Assassin was the greatest threat of this War. But why had such a being been summoned to the service of an agent of the Vatican.

No matter. The enemy had sullied the sanctity of the War, and dealt an unforgivable insult. The motives mattered little, and punishment was the only possible reply.

Contracting the majority of his consciousness to his flesh, he finally talked. "The target is a young priest, presently at a chapel to the west of the Miyama Shopping District. Assassin is not presently at his side. You know what to do."

"By your command, Master." Said Lancer, astralizing from where he'd knelt.

Kayneth permitted himself a brief reprieve from his exertions upon's Lancer departure, but it was no sooner than he relaxed that he was suddenly aware of a Master's presence at the door of the stairwell. A deliberately slow clap met his ears as he turned.

"A most brilliant performance, Lord El-Melloi." He said his visitor – an Asian man wearing a fine Italian suit. "Nothing less than what I expected of a first-rate magus."

He'd avoided detection, Kayneth realized, by temporally deactivating all his prana circuits; even now, the man's odic circulation was in the process of gradually recovering.

"Tohsaka Tokiomi, I presume?" He asked. "Rather presumptive of you to approach me without your Servant. For your sake, I do hope that you have not the intention to battle."

At Kayneth's mental order, the wraiths that guarded the rooftop gained visibility – manifesting by the dozens until they encircled the building entirely. Tohsaka Tokiomi responded with no sign of fright or panic. Instead, he calmly raised his arms, assuming a stance that Kayneth vaguely recognized as belonging to a Chinese martial art.

* * *

"My lord, we shou-"

"No, Tokiomi."

"But El-Melloi's actions are a violation to the rules of th-"

"Is he a Servant?"

"No…"

"Then he's not something a King should bother with, so try to be a little less boring and take care of him before he somehow manages to anger Alaya itself. I instead will judge what passes for 'night life' in this so far stale era."

"I-I see, my lord."

"Good. Do not bother me unless the other Servants decide to join this mockery of a Bounded Field."

"I will not, my lord…wait a minute…anger Alaya itself? I think I have an idea..."

* * *

"I have no need to bother Archer with trivial errands that I myself can resolve." Said Tohsaka, smiling pleasantly. "I'm here to bid you welcome to the Orient, Lord El-Melloi. I hope that you'll enjoy the remainder of your stay with us."

* * *

**Well, here's part 3. ****Read and review.**


	4. Casses Circumdant

**I guess this is my "gift" for a late New Year... anyway enjoy.**

* * *

**Chapter 4:**** Casses Circumdant.**

The church where Assassin's Master was hiding in plain sight was in a quiet residential neighborhood, about ten blocks west of the commercial district in central Miyama – too far from the leylines for Lord El-Melloi's wraith familiars to serve as Lancer's reinforcements. To the Servant, however, it wasn't a significant strategic loss; the strength of low-level familiars was immaterial, and had little place in a proper engagement between Heroic Spirits. If Assassin had caught wind of the evening's offensive at all, it was doubtful that the wraiths could've made much of a difference in the first place.

The buildings and surrounding grounds were secured by a bounded field of modest strength, well-enough designed that Lancer would've been hard pressed to detect it were he not a spirit. To his senses, the protection had the same character to it as the defensive provisions his Master had enacted at the hotel – permitting non-magi uninvolved in the War to go about their business unhindered, but blocking entrance to humans and entities of potentially threatening odic pressure. Though from lack of proximity to a leyline, the strength of the barrier here was of a far lower magnitude, its surface might have as well been wrought of iron, surmountable to a typical Servant – manifest or demanifest – only through an exercise of uncommon force.

Diarmuid, however, was not a typical Servant. He was the bearer of the mystical spear Gae Dearg – the Crimson Rose of Exorcism.

Despite its appellation, the effect of Lancer's Noble Phantasm was not to perfectly dispel or purge magecraft. The essences that Manannan mar Lir had imbued within the red spear permitted its blade to disrupt the flows of thaumaturgical energy, temporally interfering with phenomenon unnaturally produced. A projection of an ongoing magecraft so disrupted would inevitably begin to reassert itself upon the passing of the blade, but the rate of reassertion was subject to provision of fuel. So distant from the leylines, a long slash across the church's defenses would not regenerate for at least a second.

Lancer did not require the whole of a second to clear the barrier. The telltale odic leakage of Assassin's Master – obscured originally by the effect of the bounded field – was laid bare the moment Lancer set foot within, placing the priest within the lighted central edifice before an audience of human non-magi. Hostages? No. By the suggestion of the Grail, it was more likely a routine religious congregation (although of a type not common in Japan); and the justification for the orientation of the bounded field. If the non-magi were stayed by some form of suggestion, the atmosphere within would've been detectably wrong.

Lord El-Melloi had made clear early on that the War was to be fought in secrecy from non-magi wherever possible, and that this was a rule and tradition of utmost importance. Under normal circumstances, Lancer would be inclined to agree; for in the heat of combat, even warriors of nigh-legendary skill would be hard put to absolutely ensure the safety of innocents in masse. However, though Assassin had yet to arrive or manifest in defense of his Master, Lancer had realistically only a small window of time to complete his task. He was needed at Lord El-Melloi's side – especially now that he could no longer be summoned via a command seal.

Astralizing, Lancer entered the building through a stained glass window. The enemy Master, apparently unaware of Lancer's arrival, lowly continued his solemn sermon – right up until Lancer materialized before his pulpit and rammed the Gea Buidhe through his throat.

The folk of the congregation were momentarily silent in shock, but at the frightened shriek of a small girl, they erupted into pandemonium. Withdrawing his spear from the enemy's corpse, Lancer prepared to immediately demanifest – but something about the bounded field had just changed drastically.

"I… I can't astralize?" He asked himself, staring at the solid flesh of his hand.

In his confusion, Lancer felt something sharp and thin pierce his lower back, right as Assassin's presence made itself known. He turned his head and found himself meeting the gaze of a smiling old woman, who had planted some medical apparatus – a syringe, his mind supplied – into his flesh.

The flock that had attended the sermon were no longer panicking. Instead. They silently looked upon Lancer with unsettling, identical grins – and on the floor beside the pulpit, the corpse of the enemy Master had become of a masked skeletal man clad in black, skin-tight garb.

Lancer had been unconsciously biased to the expectation that the enemy Servant would directly engage him as he had in the hotel – in part because he'd already done so, and in part because Lancer's own areas of specialization were so oriented. Assassin, however, did not nature favor melee combat. In hindsight, it should've been obvious that a man like Hassan-i-Sabbah would respond to known threats by setting the stage for ambush and assassination.

Presence Concealment, the Servant of the Lance belatedly realized, was a misleading name for Assassin's class ability. More accurately, it could be described as the flawless falsification of odic pressure gradients…

* * *

At the same time Lancer began his ill-fated assault, two different battles started in the Shinto Slums, when it was meant to be the scenario for just one.

The capacity to differentiate magi from mundane humans by odic pressure was a feature fundamental of bounded field. It was with this in mind that on noticing the _change_ that had come upon the leylines, Emiya Kiritsugu forcibly deactivated all of his prana circuits.

His assistant, Hisau Maiya, wasn't able to do the same in time. With a delay of a few seconds, half a dozen wraiths manifested in the air, sniffing out her incompletely-suppressed thaumaturgical presence like spectral bloodhounds.

The deathly creatures were invisible to most humans without active reinforcement of sight, but to the eyes of the Emiya Kiritsugu – which had been rendered low-functioning Jougan through alchemical surgery – they had the appearance of rotting human corpses, somehow compromised of blue light. Maiya, whose eyes were unmodified, could sense them only by presence, and barely dodged aside as one of the clumsily swiped at the wall she'd been hiding behind – breaking through the bricks with ease, and scattering debris across the rooftop.

'_Physical interfierence'_ thought Kiritsugu.

Of the participating Masters thus far known to the Einzberns, only one possessed sufficient skill in the relevant disciplines to employ familiars of this specific type and quality: Kayneth Archibald El-Melloi.

Twelve years ago, Kiritsugu had dispatched a cabal of necromancers who made a practice of binding and preserving the spirits of human sacrifices as highly functional familiars – beings known as Ghost Liners, who were similar but nonequivalent to Servants. These wraiths, incapable of independent magecraft, where nowhere the same level of threat, but the principles behind their instrumentation were virtually identical. El-Melloi had bound the souls of countless dead to the domain of his 'leyline field', enhancing their combat utility with some Wind-Elemental technique that granted them capacity for electromagnetic interference. Their surfaces were coated with force field, in other words, lending them apparent kinetic solidity.

There were only six of the creatures here. If Kiritsugu and Maiya had been prepared for combat against Servants or spirits in general, they might have had a chance. Instead, they'd only lightly armed themselves for maximum mobility, intending to take out the human Masters of the War by conventional gunfire. As it was, the only weapon they currently possessed that could substantially harm the wraiths was Kiritsugu's Mystic Code – the Thompson Contender. The closest weapons cache they'd stocked with other anti-spiritual equipment was fifteen minutes away, outside of the slums.

Kiritsugu didn't have the time to deal with this. Not with Irisviel traveling unprotected; and certainly not with Berserker's sudden manifestation nearby.

Initiating the reactivation of his prana circuits, he softly intoned, "_**Time Alter – Double Accel.**_" And pulled his Mystic Code from its holster as the world slowed.

Making more time was Emiya Kiritsugu's speciality.

* * *

Unaware of her allies' plight, Irisviel von Einzbern; homunculus Vessel of the Great Grail, wife of Emiya Kiritsugu and decoy 'Master' of Saber; stopped the car she and her Servant where moving inside in a wide street at the center of the slums, and disembarked along with Saber. The vehicle, a blue Honda Saber by some odd turn of her husband's wit, had been parked near the beachfront district prior the opening of the War – one of eight luxury sedans situated around the city for her convenience of transportation.

Stepping into the high-beams, Irisviel studied their opponents.

The white-haired enemy Master, Matou Kariya, little resembled the photograph that Kiritsugu had shown her not long ago. The disfigurement of his sweating, haggard face felt thaumaturgical in origin, and he seemed physically taxed – probably unused to supporting the heavy pranic demands of the War. Besides him stood his Servant, who was clad in a full suite of purple plate armor and enshrouded in a very dark mist. There was nothing elegant or knightly about the figure, and to Irisviel, its hunched posture was more suggestive of a lower primate than a human. The intense, chaotic presence it exuded indicated that it was none other than Berserker.

"Be careful, Saber." She said.

Without taking her gaze off the enemy, the tiny, blond knight nodded seriously. The black three-piece suit she wore was replaced by her customary armored dress a moment later, and she instantly readied her weapon – a blade rendered invisible by the Boundary of the Wind King.

Kariya couldn't help but smile, despite his pain; his patience had paid off. Now _this_ was the kind of raw power he asked to save Sakura and destroy the other Servants. He felt this pain was a rightful punishment for doubting the chances this 'Third Child' had to pave his way to victory. He could tell with his Master's Perspective that unlike Tokiomi's Archer, the Einzbern's Saber will have a hard time against her foe, just what he needs to cover Berserker's tracks on his actions as a false Assassin.

More softly than Saber and Irisviel could hear over their vehicle's engine, he said to himself. "You better all be watching this, you bastards…"

* * *

As the battle between Servants unfolded in the slums, the engagement between the patriarchs of the Houses of Archibald and Tohsaka had devolved in a dance of martial arts and ghosts.

Humans, Kayneth Archibald El-Melloi had thought, could not move like this; could not avoid the coordinated, high-speed kinetic attacks of his swarm of familiars. He'd personally designed and revised the threat response algorithms multiple times to ensure it. Within the vicinity of the rooftop, there were eighty-four wraiths, and with their magnetic shells fully actualized, they could each move at around thirty kilometers an hour. Evasion should've been impossible.

Tohsaka Tokiomi was performing it casually, as if it were merely a light warm-up exercise. Infuriatingly, he wasn't even moving very quickly – just at the minimal speed required to cleanly avoid each attack. Kayneth supposed that he was reading the familiars' attacks somehow, but short of analyzing and interpreting the spellwork in real-time, he couldn't see a theoretical means to do so- much less a practical one.

"Did you know," Said the Asian man, sidestepping an incoming wraith without breaking stance. "that I was born with mere eighteen prana circuits? Not of very high-quality either. My heir far surpasses me in innate talent."

Kayneth stared. Was this some obscure Oriental humor? Tohsaka's claim was belied by the very fact that he wasn't yet deceased; and it took an uncommon sort to raise his hand against _the_ genius of the Clock Tower and survive unharmed. Every passing moment, Tohsaka's slow advance across the rooftop grew more improbable, and Kayneth could a distinct growth in the magnitude of his odic pressure. It was almost as if the man's entire body had become one circuit of unreasonably high quality.

"There is a limit to the amount of provocation that I shall tolerate from you without reprise, Tohsaka." Kayneth snarled, removing both his facade of a man who kept his emotions in check and a stoppered glass tube from the inner pocket of his cassock. "You would dare to claim to be a third-rate magus? That a mere peasant could avoid being crushed by my familiars?!"

Tohsaka laughed congenially.

"No, not at all," He replied, weaving his way past another barrage of attacks. He was now only five meters away. "I'm merely indicating that within the context of Occidental thaumaturgy, my talents and skills would rank me as little more than a third-rate magus."

So saying, the man clapped his hands together, and Kayneth felt a wave of prana cross his body. It was too simple in structure to be described as an act of magecraft he was familiar with, and he could detect no discernible effect within his fless – but across the helipad, more than forty of his familiars were instantly annihilated. This wasn't a typical act of purification or exorcism. The structures of the wraiths were dissolved – reduced to their component prana and dissipated purely by Tohsaka's force of presence. The remnant energies of the force field that had given the creatures solidity crackled in the air.

"There is, however, more to the world than Occidental magecraft." Said Tohsaka, amused at Kayneth's expression of incomprehension. "If you're willing to dedicate the time, the study of the traditions of the Orient is most rewarding."

Unbelievably, it seemed as if Tohsaka had nothing to fear from the wraiths; but Kayneth was a man who had never known failure, and was not so easily put off. Not bothering to unstopper his glass tube, Kayneth angrily smashed it against the pavement. The metallic droplets of his Mystic Code settled briefly in separate beads for a moment before rejoining, growing in external volume until it was the rough size of an attack hound.

"_**Fervor, mei sanguis.**_" Kayneth intoned. "_**Automatoportum defensio; automatoportum quaerere; dilectus incursion.**_"

As his weapon readied itself, Kayneth glared at Tokiomi, daring him to make a move. The _Volumen Hydragryum _was not so fragile that it could be eliminated with the sort of parlor trick that had destroyed his familiars. However, the Asian man's damnable smile exhibited not a trace of anxiety.

"_**Scalp!**_" Kayneth shouted.

At nearly the speed of sound, the mercury sphere shot out a whip-like tendril, sharpened with an edge of diamond like consistency of maybe several molecules across. The cement blocks that Kayneth had tested the technique upon frequently appeared to remain intact for a few seconds after being bisected; and at the moment, he had no greater desire than to see Tohsaka Tokiomi surprised at the fact of his own beheading. There was no avoiding the slash; no human had the response time to do so without magecraft, and the Japanese magus wasn't using any discernible reinforcement.

Or so Kayneth presumed.

Rather than meeting its target, the bladed tendril struck the gem of a ring on Tohsaka's right hand – and simply stopped rigid. From the point of contact, blue crystal began to spread across the rest of the _Volumen Hydragyrum_, rapidly enveloping the mercury in a solid block of translucent azure – and leeching away at the prana invested within.

"The Oriental methodology of Breathing and Walking was conceived as a path by which one could reach and interact with the Void at the root of existence." Explained Tohsaka, pacing past the frozen Mystic Code. "However, such feat might require multiple lifespans to attain. It's far easier to connect with existences that actively seek out temporary vessels to inhabit. Counter Forces, for example. I refer to my technique as _Musuo Tensei_ – the Phantasmal Metempsychosis. It's a perfect counter to any strong thaumaturgy that distorts the world."

Counter Forces? They were summoned only when things went so wrong that threatened mankind's survival. What harm he could had made with the _Casses Circumdant_ besides the potential of wraiths running amok in a public city, which could lead to the deaths of any unlucky person with the assigned minimum of odic pressure, which thanks his modifications to find the refuge of Assassin and kill him if possible, it may be less than he originally planned… which means that a lot of commoners might be dying right now… which may lead to an extremely concerned Counter Guardian seek the first chance to act as soon as possible… which Tohsaka gave to them in form of his own body… which would explain his superhuman reflexes despite the relative low odic pressure…

_Oh, bugger._

Not of his own accord, Kayneth backed away. His heart was pounding audibly.

"I intended no insult in confronting you myself, Lord El-Melloi." Continued Tokiomi, stopping right as he violated Kayneth's personal space. "You see, Archer sees no purpose in wasting his time fighting those who fail to qualify as Heroic Spirits. It's really just as well, because I haven't come here as a Master seeking to defeat you. I'm here in my official capacity as the Administrator of the Land of Fuyuki – and you, my Lord," The Asian man held his gaze upon Kayneth's wounded hand. "no longer bear the Command Seals that mark you as a participant of the Grail War. I have no choice but to recognize you as an interloper."

For the first time that Kayneth could remember, he was beset by a weakness in his legs, and found himself collapsing to the pavement.

"Are you aware that your actions may have led to the utter destruction of Fuyuki, my lord? That for your ambition, countless innocents could have been sacrificed to stop the disaster this construct of yours can unleash." Tohsaka Tokiomi leaned towards him, hands folded behind his back. "But even the ruthless Alaya can show mercy, provided that you accept my conditions for your retirement of this War."

"Wh-What conditions?" Asked Kayneth, dreading the answer.

"Surrender your Crest to the House of Tohsaka and leave this place alive," Replied the Asian man. "or refuse, and I will send you to meet your maker. It's your choice."

* * *

As one, the wraiths trained their empty eye-sockets upon the Magus Killer, pausing momentarily as if to assess the prana that now dispersed from his activated circuits. Attaining a silent consensus to prioritize his termination, perhaps, they abruptly reopened their assault with a swiftness that would've caught a typical user of reinforcement flatfooted. Even at Double Accel, Kiritsugu found that he was barely avoiding injury, and several times, the creatures' skeletal fingers shallow gashes across his Kevlar-lined coat.

Given the simplicity of the familiars' attack patterns, though, it was unlikely that El-Melloi was personally coordinating them. More probably, responses were being automated from some ant-magi heuristic coded into the leyline field – maybe designed to seek out the participants of the Grail War. So supposing, as long as the Command Seals that mediated Kiritsugu's own involvement in the game remained starved of prana as they presently were, the level of threat the wraiths represented could be downward-revised on the whole.

With a well-practiced motion, the Asian man chambered a large caliber bullet and closed the break-barrel of his Thompson Contender – squeezing off the round at one of the six wraiths.

In general, forces were exerted at a fraction of their standard rate during activation of Innate Time Manipulation, but inertia was significantly higher; and it was only with instinctive application of reinforcement that Kiritsugu overcame the recoil, dodging an attack and moving towards his next position without first confirming that he'd injured his mark.

In fact, he hadn't.

The bullet ricocheted from the electromagnetic barrier that covered the wraith's skin, lodging itself within a nearby wall. Noting merely that the outcome was roughly as he'd anticipated, Kiritsugu chambered a second round and fired it wide, putting a hole into a rusted water tower on the next building over. This time, however, the strain of Double Accel reared its ugly head, and the Contender – unintended in the first place for simultaneous deployment with Time Alter - kicked itself from his grip and clattered to the smog-blackened cement pavement.

Right as the wraiths began to close in, a flash of pistol fire registered in Kiritsugu's peripheral vision, and a window shattered across the street. It seemed that Maiya had caught on to what he was going for, and come through where his own efforts had failed.

"_**Release Alter,**_" He quickly intoned, applying pressure to his injured wrist. "_**Filed Enclose: Severance.**_"

The ammunition that Kiritsugu had fired were not of his remaining Origin Bullets. They were rounds of mostly normal composition, but invested with sigils typically incorporated in bounded field construction. The Contender, whose rifling was lined with prana-conductive alloy, had been utilized merely to prime and activate the first two bullets; while Maiya had prepared a third, firing it from a similarly customized handgun. Three points formed a triangle – and three bullets could be made to carry the smallest number of sigils necessary for the foundation of a spatial enclosure.

Emiya Kiritsugu's dual Origins – "Severing" and "Binding" – expressed themselves to some extent as Elements within his use of magcraft. A bounded field forged by his hand could, for example, be imbued with the property of "Severance". While the insulation inherent to a living soul made this meaningless as a countermeasure against humans and stronger familiars, a lesser thaumaturgical proxy that ventured into such territory would be removed instantly of any ties its original controller's will.

Sanitized of independent initiative by El-Melloi, and denied now the directives of their automation heuristics, the six wraiths could do nothing but float aimlessly within the triangular, a bounded field. As the disturbance in the leylines began to lift, so too did the engagement come to its conclusion.

Kiritsugu picked up and re-holstered his Mystic Code, attempting to catch his breath as he engaged a healing spell to somewhat alleviate the pain that wracked his flesh. Aside from the damage to his wrist – which would require a closer examination later – the majority of his injuries felt to be usual fare of burst capillaries and sprained muscles. It was sheer luck that he'd gotten off without skeletal fracturing – but all the same, he'd be out of optimal combat condition for a day or two.

Now, more than ever, it was clear to him just how far his skills had fallen off in his nine years of peace.

"See it through to the end." He uttered to himself softly, pacing to the edge of the roof where Maiya awaited. "You forfeited ant right of doubt your course the moment you committed Irisviel to sacrifice."

* * *

Unseen and unheard, a slight shadow that had been trailing Emiya Kiritsugu across the rooftops collapsed in the stairwell of a nearby fire escape. The bone-white mask it had borne shattered across the asphalt of the alleyway below.

"Yuba…" It cried. "Yuma…Where have you gone?"

* * *

The flesh of a Servant was not fundamentally distinct from that of a human.

Structurally, there were tissues of assorted variants, and bones and muscles and nerves; even genetic material – everything one might expect to find in a living mammal. The functional difference lay primarily in the processes by which the condition of the flesh was maintained – and natural degradation beyond a certain level was ultimately mitigated by the thaumaturgical remnants of the Third Magic.

On a practical front, however, the fact that a Servant possessed a simulacrum of the flesh at all permitted that they could be hurt or injured in the same manner as a human; and if their skin could be pierced by an adequate knife, then so too could their cellular membrane be compromised by the right chemical agents – especially if they were unable to astralize and purge their system thereby.

Grimacing, Lancer pulled the syringe from his side and dropped it to the tiled chapel floor. Whatever it was that he'd been dosed with, it was quickly acting, and he was already beginning to feel a severe nausea. The old woman who had planted the needle – now standing out of range – cackled.

"I do apologize, young man." She said in saccharine tones. "Didn't have a chance to prepare a poison specifically on your behalf. The injection you were just administered was a concentrated extract of Nux Vomica, a concoction said to brought low the King of Conquerors himself – the Rider of this War."

The syringe was not a Noble Phantasm; it could hardly qualify as a proper weapon. As thorough in its cowardice as its ingenuity in application, it had inflicted upon Lancer an injury far more insulting than any he had suffered before arms empowered through the mysteries. Contrasted against the majesty of the crimson spiral Lance, he thought, the poison clearly illustrated the nature of the enemy's personality. The Servant of the Mask was the antithesis of the knightly code – the embodiment of everything that Lancer despised in one entity.

"A-assassin…" He hissed, supporting his shaking frame with the Gae Buidhe.

One by one, the folk of the congregation donned bone-white, skeletal masks, and their bodies seemed to lose focus within Lancer's vision – resolving again moments later, transfigured as midnight-clad creatures of assorted shape. Soon, the old woman alone retained the appearance of a commoner. Holding a mask before her breast, she smiled.

"Truly flattering that I would be subject to the attentions of such a beautiful young man," She said. "but I'm afraid I'll have to take my leave of you tonight. The stage has been set for the show to begin, and all that remains is for the other actors to arrive."

Stage? Actors?

"What nonsense are you speaking of, Assassin?!"

The woman's only response was to bring the bone mask to her face, and along with her compatriots, her body dissipated into black dust. Almost the moment of their exit, a new presence – that of a human – entered from behind the chapel. Expecting yet another act of treachery, Lancer turned – and found himself meeting the empty gaze of the young priest that he had just "killed". The man's countenance didn't perceptibly change as Lancer tremblingly leveled the blade of Gae Buidhe at his throat.

"You won't be able to harm me with that, Lancer. You can barely even hold it properly."

"You haven't the presence of a Master." Said Lancer, breathing roughly. "Are you yet another _Faker_?"

But before anything inside the chapel could give an answer, a loud warcry shattered the tension in the air.

"Ulalalalalalalala!"

* * *

'…_Three.'_ Counted Kariya, grasping at the breast of his sweat-stained hoodie with a grimace. _'A pigeon, a wraith and some sort of demonic creature. It feels like there's a fourth witness somewhere, but I can't pinpoint it.'_

Wincing slightly, he parsed an update from the familiar he'd left at the hotel.

'_Seems as if Tohsaka had the same idea that I did…_'

* * *

Berserker's movements were not those of a fighter, but by Saber's estimation, he did possess a raw, untrained talent in acrobatics. Thrown bodily by her initial slash to a distance of maybe fifteen cubits, he again pounced forward, flipping in mid-air to throw his feet down against her defenses. Saber brought her blade to a parallel with the street just above her shoulder, blocking the attack.

The Servant of Rage bounded away and began to circle predatorily glaring at her with red, glowing eyes as he sought a weakness in her defenses.

The armor that Berserker wore was very strange, thought Saber. Its dark(?) purple coloring was obscured by a dark fog that seemed to possess the same defensive properties as the Boundary of the Wind King; and the metal plating had parted from her strike apparently unscathed. Mystical properties aside, though, the general cast of the armor wasn't anything she was familiar with, and she could not see any practical use in the long shafts attached at the shoulders. According to the knowledge supplied by the Grail, the horned headgear somewhat resembled the helmets worn by the warriors of this eastern nation in centuries past – but the appearance was off enough that Saber couldn't conclude equivalence.

There must be some clue to discern his identity, Saber thought. Berserker was short of stature – roughly similar to Saber's – but he was capable of matching or exceeding her in strength, speed and endurance. That alone suggested that he might have been a hero of the Age of Gods – or a fellow practitioner of the Prana Burst. If the latter were true, perhaps she could provoke him to more clearly demonstrate the technique.

Investing her prana within Invisible Air, she activated its secondary form – the Hammer of the Wind King. Her blade glowed momentarily with golden light as the raised it above her head, and a chaotic torrent of wind spiraled about it.

"_**Strike Air!**_**"** She shouted, aiming at Berserker as she brought her weapon down.

A tempest of highly pressure air rushed forth from her blade, streaming toward the dark Servant with lethal potency. Rather than dodging aside or merely defending, however, Berserker swung his hand in a claw-like motion – releasing a colorless distortion that met the _Strike Air_ and blew past it before dissipating. The enemy Master met Saber's eyes and smirked.

It wasn't a wind-based attack. Saber thought at first that she was correct in her assessment that Berserker was a user of the Prana Burst – but while there had been odic energy present within the distortion, it was in quantities too minute to warrant the disruption of the _Strike Air_. It felt almost as if Gaia itself had moved to cancel her attack.

"A nature Spirit?" Asked Irisviel from beside the automobile, some distance behind her.

Releasing an inhuman roar, Berserker began a rapid advance – leaping and deflecting from a wall to come at Saber from an angle. Saber had adequately reconstituted her sheath of air to defend, but wasn't quick enough to block a kick against her forearms. Thought her gauntlets somewhat diffused the blow, she was forced within cubits of Irisviel. Falling back further was not an option.

In a defensive capacity, Invisible Air was free to vary to a number of different configurations. Steadying the construct with the hilt of her blade, Saber poured her energy into it, forcing it to extend into a flat barrier, perpendicular to the ground.

Berserker, however, had already defeated Invisible Air once. Crashing against the field of wind, he plated his fingers into it, palms opposed. To Saber's horror, the tips slowly sank through, tainting the barrier at the points of contact with a black mist that somehow interfered with structural integrity. Applying a colossal force, Berserker began to pull his hands apart – and as if the Boundary of the Wind King had been woven of so much cloth, it simply tore apart.

It was only the second night of the War – and Saber's first engagement – but her primary Noble Phantasm, the Sword of Promised Victory, had already been exposed.

"Berserker!" Shouted the enemy Master. "Back! We're up against the King of Knights!"

No Command Seal was expended, but Berserker broke away on his Master's order. It surprised Saber that the black warrior's loyalty was a feature of his character strong enough to permeate Mad Enhancement – but she wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. Using the breather to reorder her defenses, she studied her opponent anew.

Irisviel's judgement was probably not entirely erroneous. Twice, Berserker had demonstrated that he could cancel high thaumaturgical phenomenon at will – and he did so without the use of a visible Noble Phantasm or a reasonably large expenditure of prana. As far as Saber knew, full divinities or nature spirits couldn't be summoned as Servants of the Grail – and that rather increased the chances that the dark Servant was some sort of demigod.

Within her mind, Saber's course was clear.

Though Irisviel had counseled her against exhibiting the full attributes of their trump so early in the War, Saber had nothing else within her immediate arsenal that could readily slay a demigod. Full activation at her present levels of energy might consume her unto unconsciousness, but she'd vowed to herself to defend Irisviel at all costs.

Readying the divine sword, Saber summoned the majority of her available resources and primed her attack.

"**EX…"**

Eyes focused beneath the enemy's horned mask.

"**-CALIBUR!"**

A searing, concentrated beam of brilliant white light fired forth from Saber's small frame, consuming all that would stand within her way. For all of its resemblance to a weapon of science fiction, this was not a power that emerged from the bowels of human understanding, crafted by unveiling the world's truths. This was an embodiment of sheer fantasy – the distilled essence of humanity's prayers, framed by an unknowable, ironic hand.

This was the crystallization of the wishes of mankind – the beautiful light of destruction.

Saber barely conscious upon the conclusion of the attack, drained and panting. Debris littered about the now-molten asphalt before her had caught aflame in the beam, lighting the smoke that filled the street in a hellish red cast. She then heard some violent coughing where nothing should had been left and what her eyes discovered left her gaping.

Maybe thirty cubits before her, cloaked in a growingly chaotic swirl of black fog, Berserker glared at her completely unscathed – poised before his relative unharmed yet coughing Master. Those red, glowing eyes the weighed her souls could not be human, Saber thought – they were the eyes of a demon out of hell.

"Wh-… what manner of creature are you?" She whispered unsteadily.

The Master of Berserker spit out a quantity of blood.

"We're done for the night, Berserker." He said hoarsely. "Withdraw."

Obediently, the black warrior crouched and took his Master into a fireman's hold. Giving Saber and Irisviel one last look, he bounded to the roof of an undamaged three-story building and vanished from view. Arturia Pendragon, King of Camelot, symbol of Chivalry in Western Europe and Saber of the Fourth Holy Grail, permitted herself to collapse only when the black warrior's presence left her awareness entirely.

* * *

The pair of divine bulls that drew the Gordius Wheel charged through the double doors of the chapel, shattering them to splinters. _Via Expugnatio_ – the trampling attack that Rider had used to crush through the bounded field – left a trail of destroyed church benches and broken tiles in its wake, crackling with arcane energies. When the chariot finally ground to a halt, a dark-haired effeminate boy peered fearfully over the side from behind Rider's cape.

"The… the King of Conquerors…" Lancer managed to say, gaping at the indiscreet display.

"Hah! My title precedes me, then!" Bellowed the large man in a jolly voice. "Indeed, you now breathe the same air as Iskandar, conqueror of Persia and the Orient!"

Lancer, however, had already astralized; and a syringe's worth of odorless clear fluid fell to the floor where he'd been standing. The still-settling debris kept Rider from taking specific note of the splash, but he did sense the abrupt departure.

"Strange." He said. "He didn't strike me as a coward."

"Rider!" Whined the boy at his side – his Master, Waver Velvet. "Why did you just charge in without warning me?! We couldn't even tell what was going on in here, what with that bounded field obscuring the view!"

Rider looked at the boy and pointed a thumb at the corpse beside the pulpit.

"The unlucky fellow over there vanished from my senses a while ago." He said. "Didn't figure that he was dead or defeated – but it was clear that the glorious battle I'd envisioned wasn't coming to pass. I hoped to exchange words with Lancer before he left – maybe recruit him as a general off our forces."

Waver looked at his Servant incredulously.

"R-recruit him!? He's an enemy Servant! He wouldn't listen to you!"

Rider laughed and tousled Waver's hair with meaty hand.

"At times, it takes a mortal enemy to truly appreciate the measure of your worth." He said. "In Sparta, it's said that the greatest love can exist only between two men who see each other across a battlefield for the first time, and comprehend immediately that they're destined to cross blades."

Waver shuddered, and said under his breath, "There's something terribly creepy about that statement."

The young Asian priest, who had been looking on, approached the side of the chariot.

"If I may intrude," He said. "my name is Kotomine Kirei, son of the Overseer of this War. I am… was the Master of Assassin, and I thank you for intervening on my behalf. Were it not for your actions, Lancer might have executed me."

A Master's presence was relatively fainter than that of a Servant, and through the walls of the bounded field, Waver hadn't noticed that there was anyone else in the church besides Lancer and Assassin. Kotomine Kirei, however, had been present – and he now possessed none of the odic signature that indicated an active set of Command Seals. It was probable that the Grail had stripped him of his participation in the War once Assassin had been eliminated.

"Ah… it was nothing," Replied Waver. "Lancer shouldn't have been going after defeated Masters. But just to be safe, you should probably take refuge in the Sanctuary."

"I shall do so." The priest replied, bowing his head,

There was a certain emptiness in Kotomine's eyes that inclined Waver to believe that he'd a lot riding on Assassin's victory – and in defeat. He had the look of a man who had lost faith in almost everything. Politely receiving the priest's valedictions, Waver watched him leave the building with a sympathetic frown. Was this what defeat in the Grail War entailed? A complete loss of hope?

Rider, however, considered Kotomine's departing figure with narrowed eyes.

"Rubs me the wrong way, that one does." He said. "And Lancer didn't look to be the type to go about threatening people for no reason…"

* * *

With a hazy, unfocused consciousness, Arturia found herself staring up into worried face of a beautiful woman, who was shouting something that she couldn't hear.

"You shouldn't fear for my health, Guinevere." She replied, closing her eyes. "The sovereign is an ideal – and ideals can never bleed…"

* * *

The white wire-frame hound deposited Saber in the back seat of the Honda, and Irisviel cancelled her dynamic transmutation, coiling the material back into her sleeves. She exhaled, brushing aside a stray hair from the girl's forehead.

Kiritsugu regarded the small Servant merely as a tool, and for the ends that he desired, he had deemed her a necessary sacrifice. Saber, too, hoped merely to be deployed as a weapon, and cared little if she was killed in the process. Both sentiments were things that Irisviel could comprehend, but deep within her heart, she hid a secret that she dared not voice to those around her:

Her understanding of the necessity of another's sacrifice was purely intellectual.

If it were for the sake of Kiritsugu or his dream, she would gladly give her own life without a second thought. Whether this was because she was ultimately a homunculus, Irisviel didn't know, but self-sacrifice wasn't something she had a problem with. The idea of Kiritsugu or Saber being injured on her account, on the other hand, was totally and completely abhorrent to her. She didn't want to see it happen – didn't want to think about it.

And yet, it was happening before her eyes.

Before the War, she'd resolved to keep herself her feelings on the matter, supporting Kiritsugu and Saber in their pursuits as wholeheartedly as she could. It occurred to her now that she might have overestimated her own strength – and vastly underestimated the threat the War posed to her loved ones. This first engagement could've easily ended Saber, and even now, the girl was suffering.

No, Irisviel decided. She wouldn't stand aside and allow Kiritsugu and Saber to fight alone. It was true that her alchemy was unsuited for combat, but there had to be a way for her to apply herself – to protect those she held dear.

Footsteps broke the relative silence of the street, and Irisiviel became aware that a strong, Servant-like presence had manifested behind her. Charging her wires, she turned.

Twenty meters from the car, a short figure in silver plate armor regarded her silently. The look of the equipment was similar enough to Berserker's that Irisviel momentarily thought he'd returned – but the new Servant lacked the strange shoulder-shafts and the demonic mask. Instead, aside from a pair of glass-lensed indentations on either side of the head, the helmet was entirely smooth and featureless – polished to a shine.

The style of the armor seemed vaguely European to Irisviel, but the Servant's weapon was a different matter altogether. Within his hands, he held a black-bladed katana with a hilt that resembled something mechanical.

There was a faint noise that sounded like a radio communication from the Servant's helmet, but Irisiviel was too far away to make out the speech. The Servant's reply, however, was clear.

"Yes, Mother."

* * *

**False Saber** (?)

True Name: V17 b-005

Master: "Mother"

Gender: Male

Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Strength: B

Endurance: C

Agility: A

Mana: C

Luck: E-

**Description:**

An unknown interloper clads in silver armor. It's unclear if he can be counted as a proper Servant, but he shall be referred as one for the time being.

**Skills:**

**Independent Action** (?) – Rank EX: Indefinite or permanent manifestation at no requisite prana cost.

**Territory Creation** – Rank B: Construction of a mobile spatial quarantine that rejects foreign phenomenon. As it is constantly active, it doubles as Magic Resistance.

**Powerless Shell **– (?) Rank D: Servant parameters and attributes are invisible to a Master's Perspective.

**Battle Continuation** – Rank A: Capable of combat while bearing potentially deadly injuries; will remain alive so long as lethal incapacitation does not occur.

**Disengage** – Rank D: Capacity to break from combat. Rapid restoration of status when removed from combat situations.

**Clairvoyance** – Rank D: Non-visual detection of objects and presences at ranges up to 2 km.

**Vitrification** – Rank C: A serene state of mind, which nullifies mental interference of equivalent rank.

**Noble Phantasms:**

**Maglock Katana (Prototype)**

Rank: -

Type: Anti-Unit.

A highly durable carbon composite katana with a hilt of nonstandard design. When provided energy from the metallic ports on the Servant's hands, the blade is capable of vibration at super-sonic frequencies for improved cutting power. Equivalent to a B-Rank Noble Phantasm.

**P-06 Standard (x2)**

Rank: -

Type: Anti-Unit.

A pair of pistol-like weapons that electromagnetically discharge large-caliber round at supersonic speed. Not a Noble Phantasm.

* * *

**Cubit: Distance between the fingers to the elbow. It depends on the region it was used, but the standard equivalent is of 45.72 centimeters. It's irrelevant knowing who taught it to King Arthur.**

* * *

**According to the material of Fate/Zero, Diarmuid is the only Servant that could be killed by Hundred-Faces Hassan in a Servant-vs-Servant engagement, although no details were given in how it would happen... guess we should thank fallacies coming up with that scenario (and as far as I know, one of the few Tokiomi vs Kayneth writings in Fate fanfiction)**

**Another thing, in the original there was a version of the Taiga Dojo starring Iskandar and Waver... and I've not decided yet if I will include that (with my own twists) or just ignore it and focus on the story. So... what do you think I should do?**

**As always, please read and review.**


	5. For the sake of our ideals

**Welp, now I gained more than 100 followers (and almost 100 favs) by using someone's else work. Luckly for my conscience, this is the second-to-last chapter where I steal fallacies' stuff. For now, enjoy. **

* * *

**Chapter 5:**** For the sake of our ideals.**

On the asphalt near the burning Honda, the carcass of a bat lay in a small puddle of blood, cut in two along the spine. To each side, there was taped a cleanly bisected half of a miniature wireless camera.

"It seems that Tohsaka Tokiomi's phantom has made his its second move." Said Emiya Kiritsugu. "Or if not, a third party has taken the stage."

The words were delivered with calculated slowness. To anyone else, it might have seemed that the Magus Killer were disinterestedly reciting a fact; but Hisau Maiya knew him too well to be misled. Beneath his calm countenance, there raged a true anger.

"We haven't positively confirmed Tohsaka's involvement, though."

Kiritsugu gazed in the direction of the Fuyuki Hyatt.

"It's obvious that the theatrics that he engaged in tonight were for purposes of intimidation." He said, pulling a cigarette and a silver Zippo lighter from the inner pocket of his overcoat. "Knowing that the attention of every Master would be drawn to the stage that El-Melloi had set, he took the opportunity to establish himself as an enemy that one doesn't lightly challenge. However, the timing is suspicious. There doesn't seem to be a reason for him to take action at this juncture."

"You refer to the direct coincidence of his attack with the Madam's kidnapping?"

"I see little reason for it besides to lend him an alibi." Said Kiritsugu, lighting his cigarette. Taking a draw and exhaling, he continued. "By odic pressure alone what briefly appeared in this location following Berserker's departure could only have been a Servant-class entity. Ignoring the fact that the unknown's energy signature was a mismatch for the confirmed Heroic Spirits of the War, Tohsaka's Archer and the as-yet-unseen Caster are the only ones whose precise locations were unaccounted for at the time of the kidnapping. Neither class is traditionally capable of masking or altering their presence – but it isn't nearly unimaginable that such thing could be realized through high thaumaturgy."

Of the known Masters, Maiya knew, the only ones established to possess the skill to perform such a feat were Tohsaka Tokiomi and Kayneth Archibald El-Melloi. The latter's Servant was not unaccounted for – and the man had just been forcibly removed from the War. That left Tohsaka as a prime suspect.

"How do we know that this wasn't the work of Caster, though?" She asked. "Or of some third party interloper?"

"We don't," Replied Kiritsugu. "But until we have sufficient evidence to justify reprioritization, Tohsaka Tokiomi shall be our primary target."

The fire in the Magus Killer's eyes was unmistakable, and as Maiya nodded in quite affirmation, she tried to suppress the part of her that dared hope Emiya Kiritsugu might someday worry after her the way did the Madam…

* * *

_He found the car broken down in the nearby village – not far from the deserted farmer's cottage that he lived in. The hood was still somewhat warm in the cool afternoon air, and he hadn't seen it when he passed through earlier in the day. By its bearing, the owners were probably headed toward the Enclave near the border of Vladivostok Territory. Abandoning the car was the right choice; the distance was only four or five kilometers, and they could make it to the settlement on foot before nightfall if they hurried._

_He didn't want to think about what might happen if they didn't arrive in time._

_Wrapping his traveler's cloak around his body, he lifted weightlessly from the street and soared eastwards – in the direction of the massive fortress-like structure on the horizon._

* * *

_They left the country road at some point, and it wasn't until twilight that he managed to locate their presence in the ruins of a larger town – maybe a kilometer away from the Enclave. They were a family of four; a man and a woman, and two young children. It seemed as if they might have been seeking drinkable water._

_The sky had already begun to darken, however – and with the night came the creatures that had claimed the barren wastes in humanity's absence._

_Not all who emerged from the Rapture as individuals did so intact. Fragmented psyches – too incomplete to qualify as human – fused and bonded and merged; and upon attaining the definition to reassert a material existence, the stalked from the seas of blood as twisted chimeras – nocturnal, physically heterogeneous monsters whose forms were only partially recognizable as human, if at all._

_The monsters possessed little inherent stability as organisms. Isolated for long enough and their flesh would begin to lose cohesion, degrading to LCL as their component soul fragments returned to the Sea. Their corporeal substantiation, though, was extensible through the consumption of the flesh of humans – the only other multicellular life that had returned to land in significant numbers. By some rudimentary survival instinct, they began to assemble in predatory packs to raid human settlements, eventually necessitating the construction of the fortress walls that now defended every Enclave._

_Feared and loathed as the offspring of the Angels, the creatures were dubbed the "Nephilim."_

_By the time of his arrival, around a dozen of the things had cornered the family against a rusted, overturned tractor-trailer. The father – a stout, bearded man approaching middle age – was already mildly injured, and the futility of attempting to pierce his attackers' AT-fields with rifle shots had begun to fill his eyes with a despairing panic. Behind him, the wife and children huddled with tear-streaked faces._

_Tonight, he decided, no human lives would be lost in this place._

_A pair of crimson spikes protruded from the palm of his right hand, extending outwards, and then twisting to form a cylindrical shaft that ended in an ended in a double-pronged blade: A replica of the Lancea Longini, based on what remembered of it from when it had temporarily been a part of his body. Crafting it from his fresh always made him feel a little inhuman, but it wasn't something that he could afford to dwell upon at the moment. The deployment of his AT-field had not gone unnoticed, and the Nephilim had suddenly turned their attention to him._

_He could've theoretically killed off the creatures with offensive AT-field techniques, but his control wasn't nearly good enough to do so when there were bystanders within range. In this situation, the Lance Replica was by far a safer and more practical implement. Though the polearm technique he'd devised to use with it was artless and clumsy – worthless to anyone who couldn't casually throw up an AT-field – it permitted the application of the weapon's intended function, which slightly differed from that of the original._

_The AT-fields of even the strongest Nephilim couldn't compare to those of Angels, but they were still capable of blocking rounds from conventional firearms. Before the Lance Replica, however, they might as well have been made of wet tissue paper. Within the first forty seconds of the fight, the three creatures closest to him were reduced to puddles of LCL, and he watched as the sparks of their souls drifted away._

_The Lance Replica did not absorb – it dispersed. The S^2 Organ that now compromised the center of his brain had removed any natural termination to lifespan for the foreseeable future. He had no intention of pending the rest of eternity with the Nephilim as a part of his soul._

_At the deaths of their misbegotten companions, the instinct of self-preservation that had driven the Nephilim to hunt humans in the first place now made them wary; they understood that they were faced with a stronger predator. It was, however, not quite enough to make them back off, and so they stood their ground, confident in their numerical superiority as their alpha took the fore._

_It was a grotesque figure – the scarred, heavily muscular body of a hulking, headless man, attached at the chest to the back of a young girl's fair-skinned torso, which possessed an extra set of arms. The torso itself wasn't connected to a matching lower body; and instead, the 'girl' was conjoined to the man's abdomen like some sort of Siamese twin. Seeking to declare its dominance, perhaps, the Nephilim issued a threatening roar from the 'girl's' mouth – almost identical to that of a lion._

_It wouldn't have understood if he thanked it for its decision; but the moment it identified itself, his task had become far easier._

_Dashing forward, he thrust the tip of his weapon at the 'girl's' face. The alpha's response time was superior, and it managed to raise the 'man's' arm just in time to defend – but in the end, even a noncritical injury from the Lance could be disabling. When the double blades punctured the forearm, the flesh immediately lost integrity; and a hand fell to the cracked surface of the street with a visceral splatter. Betraying an extreme pain at the loss of its limb, the 'girl' grimaced and gave a tortured cry. The distraction was long enough for him to plunge the Lance through the 'girl's' navel and violently jerk it upwards – bisecting 'her' torso and head in the process. Cut from its souls, the body began to collapse._

_A creature that had merely killed three of the pack probably wasn't too intimidating – but one had effortlessly destroyed an alpha was something that the Nephilim dared to challenge. Intimidated beyond their level of comfort, they began to slowly retreat._

_Then, with a very rapid sequence of fleshy strikes, swords were abruptly plunged through their skulls._

"_Zabaniya." Said a male voice from a nearby rooftop, just beyond his relaxed sensory range. "The Guardian of the Wastes of Hell – the Nineteenth Angel. Figures that Control would fail to mention your involvement when they radioed for me to head out here."_

_A man dressed in military fatigues leapt down from the top of the building, holding what appeared to be a black composite bow. Nimbly landing, he pulled his bowstring back. When it had reached its maximum, a sword identical to the ones that had slain the Nephilim manifested with the base of its hilt resting at the knocking point. The blade felt as if it were somehow crafted from an AT-field._

"_Maybe you weren't around before the Third Impact," Said the newcomer. "but they used to hunt down your kind with these giant bionic mecha called Evangelions. I've nothing like that in my arsenal, obviously, but you'll find these swords are more than capable of cutting you down."_

_The soldier was a redhead – older and male – but if you took away the tan of his skin and changed his eye color – made him maybe a decade younger – his facial features would resemble nobody more than…_

_Unbidden, the somatic memory of a neck snapping within his grip crossed his mind, and he stumbled backwards, dropping the Lance Replica._

_[Wh-who are you!?] He shouted. [How can you exist!? She was dead!]_

_The man raised a brow._

"_Unified Language, huh?" He said. "I don't know who you've mistaken me for, and I don't really care." Without breaking guard, he slowly repositioned himself until the family of refugees was directly at his back. "I've heard, though, that you've never really shown any hostility against humans. Try to keep that up, and we won't have any problems."_

_Parted from his conscious maintenance, the Lance began to decompose into LCL._

_[Tell me,] He said, trying to collect himself. [What was the name of your mother?]_

_The man seemed growingly confused._

"_My mother?" He asked. "I don't remember my mother. Why the hell would it matter to you?"_

_Involuntarily taking another step back, he caught his reflection in a broken shop window from the corner of his eye. Accusingly, the pale, birdlike face of Sachiel glared at him from beneath the hood of his traveler's cloak._

Do not think yourself sinless, _it said_. For the murder of brethren, your toils shall be cursed never to yield crop, and unto the ends of this world shall you be marked…

* * *

'_That was… Berserker's past?'_

Kariya allowed himself to lie for a bit before painfully sitting up from his bed, squinting in the unpleasant brightness of the room. The eastward-facing windows had white venetian blinds, but even closed, they didn't do much to keep out the morning sunlight. It was a small blessing that the worms were mostly inactive during the day.

That nightmare, he wondered – was it a part of the dream cycle induced by the Grail?

According to the texts in the old man's library, a Master would be instinctively able to tell if the contents of a dream experienced during the War didn't originate from their own minds. The scenes he witnessed certainly felt foreign in origin, but the contents were utterly incoherent. Real events, he was fairly sure, wouldn't have such blatant symbolism.

At the beginning, Berserker indicated that his legend hadn't yet come into existence. Kariya – who had been too caught up in logistical concerns of his strategy at the time – paid the claim little mind, but now it seemed to be forcing itself upon his consciousness.

The Nephilim; the talk about the Angels; the Lancea Longini; the Rapture.

Abrahamic religion was a recurring theme throughout the nightmare, and there was heavy hinting that Berserker might have been a figure from the Christian eschatology. On the other hand, there were things that seemed like rejected concepts from a science fiction movie – the stereotypical futuristic design of the Enclave, for example; or the mention of the bionic mecha. Meshed with all of the religious symbolism, the sequence might have been stolen from some badly researched anime script or light novel – and that alone made him wonder if it wasn't all a mental regurgitation of random fiction he'd been exposed to as a child.

Assuming he could take it seriously, though, the bit about Zabaniya was confounding. In the Islamic tradition, the angel that guarded hell was named as Maalik, and the Zabaniya were the nineteen tutelary spirits that assisted him in his task – presumably the inspiration of the Noble Phantasms used by the nineteen Hassan-i-Sabbah. However, Zabaniya as a singular entity described as the 'Nineteenth Angel' or the 'Guardian of Hell' went blatantly against its mythological background. Along with the black cloak and the bird-like bone mask, the name-dropping raised confusing questions about Berserker's precise relationship with the Assassins.

And why was the sight of the man with the swords so frightful?

Kariya shook his head, clearing his mind. There wasn't any use in dwelling upon these things until they became relevant. For now, it was best too simply concentrate on the War.

'_The others players now know me as the Master of Berserker,_' He thought, limping out into the kitchen. '_and Berserker's become a sufficiently known quantity that we probably won't be implicated for the actions we've taken the past couple of days._'

Already, Tokiomi had eliminated the Master of Lancer, who had in turn destroyed Assassin. Lancer and Archer were still alive, but for a while they would be occupied fighting each other, presumably. All that remained was to involve Caster and Rider in the mess, and then sit back. The familiar had left to monitor Saber and her Master had been killed, but in the event that the pair turned up again, they probably wouldn't seek a rematch against Berserker immediately.

'_The question is, was the little show we put on intimidating enough to keep the other from attempting an attack on us?_'

Common sense would dictate the negative, but the magi were by definition removed of normality. The fact that they valued magic and magecraft over the worth of any life – including their own – was how a completely senseless death-match like the War of the Grail could've come about in the first place. The final words of the late Master of Lancer had cemented this understanding within Kariya's mind.

'_This is how they get around to thinking that people are more or less tools._' He thought, opening the refrigerator.

Besides the usual fare of beer, comfort foods, and instant meals, there were actually some vegetables and cooking ingredients stocked in the bottom drawers, from when Berserker had convinced him to go grocery shopping. Undeniably, the flat had become increasingly livable since the boy had taken up the domestic duties.

'_Am I really different, though?_' Wondered Kariya. '_From the very beginning, the plan was to sacrifice Berserker and myself for Sakura's sake._'

Sighing, he removed a can of Yebisu from a six-pack and shut the door, stalking out into the living room. Lazily plopping down on the couch, he turned on the news and pulled open the tab of the can. A commentator was discussing President Clinton's recent move to bar the United States from federally funding human cloning research – making a point that those who supported such science were in essence arguing for the commoditization of humanity.

"Tell me, Aoi," Said Kariya. "Do you think I'm a hypocrite?"

* * *

The catacombs beneath the district of Shinto dated from the Edo period, when the Crypto-Christians in the area had utilized them for purposes of worship. The subterranean tomb at the Pro-Cathedral of Fuyuki connected to the historic primary entrance, but there were other passageways into the system hidden throughout the city. Some had collapsed over the years, and others had been destroyed during the construction of the sewers and the subways – but those that otherwise remained were had been faithfully documented by the Fuyuki Historical Society.

The spiral stairwell that descended from the fourth sub-basement of the Fuyuki Grand Hyatt was not on record; Kayneth Archibald El-Melloi had bored it out mere days before his death.

By the time Kotomine Kirei arrived, Tohsaka Tokiomi was already waiting in the rectangular stone chamber at the base – smiling faintly as he examined the symbols carved into the walls by flickering lamplight.

"Amazing, is it not?" Asked Tohsaka. "These are the foundational sigils of the altered bounded filed we witnessed last night – inscribed by Lord El-Melloi with use of his Mystic Code. The products of his talent and ingenuity are truly breathtaking."

"Perhaps," Said Kirei, sullenly. "but in the end, the sum of his talents was proven unequal to yours."

Tohsaka Tokiomi chuckled, but shook his head.

"You misunderstand, Kirei." He said. "The effectiveness of the Musou Tensei is dependent on the strength of the thaumaturgy employed by the opponent. My choice to use the technique was a gamble based upon an utmost respect for Lord El-Melloi's talent. Were his magecraft any weaker, the possibility exists that I would no longer be here. The Counter Force does not exercise itself where it is unneeded."

Expressionlessly, Kirei directed his gaze to the glass jar beside the lamp on the floor. Within a mass of bloody flesh – the El-Melloi's Magic Crest – floated in viscous, clear liquid.

"You would suggest that failure and success have no inherent meaning, then?" He queried.

"The only meaningful failure is death." Replied the Master of Archer, gazing upwards at the intricate magic circle across the ceiling. "In all other cases, a loss is what we make of it – and so long as we find worth in what we have attained, even in defeat, we are triumphant. Do you judge the Excalibur worthless merely because it has failed to slay Berserker?"

The explanation seemed not to purely address an optimistic philosophical stance. If Kirei read the meaning correctly, it was an endorsement of pragmatism – and the "worth" spoken of was beyond self-satisfaction a matter of securing or appreciating accomplishments of tactical value to future objectives even in defeat. Was Tohsaka Tokiomi a man who viewed the entire world as a sequence of branching contingencies, then?

It was unimaginable, and inhumanly empty – more than the void that Kotomine Kirei sought to fill within his own heart. Tohsaka Tokiomi had to find comfort and reassurance in something more substantial.

"I can unfortunately find no worth in the outcome of my engagement with Lancer." Said Kirei. "The original response plan that I laid out with Assassin in case of my discovery didn't account for the presence of a third party like Rider. When it became apparent that he intended to intervene, we had no choice but to abandon confirmation of Lancer's destruction. As such, we now have a loose end, and it's merely the third day of the War."

"A loose end Lancer may be," Said Tohsaka. "but with what we know of the properties of the crimson spear, we've essentially confirmed Lord El-Melloi and his partner to be the perpetrators of the attack upon the Estate. Elimination of this loose end consequently brings to heel a primary threat to our defenses."

From what they knew: Saber and Rider were swordsmen, the former too honorable and the latter too boisterous to plan the attack, puppetry was not a part of either the Einzberns' or Emiya Kiritsugu's skills and from what little he knew about Rider's Master, he was just an untalented student from the Clock Tower. And since suspecting Berserker was obviously out of the question, only Caster was left, but the fact that Risei confirmed they were summoned the very night of the attack left them out of the equation.

It wasn't a very revealing answer, but Kirei supposed that there would be other opportunities to pick at Tohsaka's psychology.

"Possibility of a second discovery makes it imprudent to have Assassin perform the cleanup." He said. "What course of action would you propose?"

Tokiomi smiled, folding his hands behind his back as he faced his shadow.

"The matter that presently occupies Lancer is undoubtedly a desire for vengeance." He said. "It is my intention to oblige him – to give him the fight he seeks. Before the King of Heroes, he shall be reacquainted with the inevitability of death, and know despair…"

* * *

The temporary office of Ikari Yui had been assigned had become quite cluttered within a mere twenty-four hours.

"I think these are all of the personnel documents that you requested." Said Kyoko, laying a clear plastic folder across the top of a thick volume on gestalt psychology.

"Thank you." Replied Yui. "Oh, and by the way – that maintenance crew you assigned me last night was a huge help. I look forward to working with them again."

"Not a problem." Replied Kyoko, nodding and politely smiled back.

Inwardly, she was feeling a little out of her league in regards to the situation. Ikari Yui wasn't an intimidating individual, per se, but the eight technicians that she'd requisitioned to accompany her into the city last night had been downright spooked by whatever they'd seen. In a closed debriefing afterwards, they'd been assigned some high security clearance gag order that had them refusing to mention anything – almost as if they were afraid for their lives. The 'samples' they'd returned with were in the meantime quietly sequestered to a subterranean sector of the lab that was off-limits to just about everyone.

Not unexpectedly, the atmosphere around the office today had been palpably tense – and Ikari Yui either hadn't noticed or simply didn't care. She'd gone about her business with an imperturbable amicability that felt very, very out of place. It was painfully obvious that she wasn't the run-of-the-mill intern that she pretended to be.

'_We're still adjusting to her presence._' Kyoko rationalized. '_It's not like she's a bad person or anything…_'

Trying to make small talk, she asked: "Who's the guy you've been staring at on your monitor all morning? He's got that scruffy older man look that I really like."

With a pleasant smile that didn't reach her eyes, Ikari Yui replied: "I don't know his name, but he's the reason that I was specifically assigned to this response effort."

On screen, the face of Emiya Kiritsugu was illuminated by firelight.

* * *

_In the beginning, there was nothing._

_No light, not shadow._

_Only him._

"_You have been disconnected." Said a voice with no origin. "All that is unnecessary for your immediate survival had been severed from your mind."_

Lord Propagandist, _He uttered soundlessly. _What am I to do?

"_You are to regain and master those things that have been taken from you." Said the voice. "Every inch of bone; every hair; every strand of muscle. With your mind alone, you shall grasp ahold of them, and without reliance upon the instinct given unto us by Allah, you shall draw yourself from stone and be born anew."_

And if I fail?

"_Neither paradise nor hell awaits. Your mind shall erode to the chaos of the [ ], and soon you shall be as dust within the abyss."_

_For a time, he was unable to summon any words, and perhaps an eternity passed before he uttered his response._

Why? _He asked. _Why have I been consigned to this punishment? I am faithful and devout!

"_What know you of the angel Zabaniya, Adherent?"_

In the End of Days, he stands sentinel in the barren wastes of Jahannam, guiding the lost to sanctuary. By his spear, the infidels know their sins and are unmade. He is the once and future patron to the Final Judgment of humanity.

"_And why is it that we have cloaked our disciples in shadow? Why do they bear the mask of Zabaniya? Why we must give up our names?"_

It is that we shall be as the Angel of the Wastes, harboring the folk unto salvation.

"_In this hour, Adherent, we are in need of a guide of unprecedented ability." Said the tired, aged voice of the propagandist. "It was the conclusion of the Elders that you possessed the potential to be shaped as the sword of the Order. Do you comprehend?"_

_And then he did._

_It was not he who had been chosen to bear this nameless suffering. It was he who had given himself over – to be educated that he might bring forth salvation by his own hands. If necessary, he had long since vowed to destroy himself for the sake of his people._

Lord Propagandist, _He said with renewed conviction. _I shall be the sword that draws itself from stone.

* * *

Steadily, black leather dress shoes clicked along the linoleum floor of an aging school hallway. Before the open entrance of the teachers' lounge, they came to a stop, and a gloved hand curtly knocked against the wooden door.

At 02:15 PM, it was still hours left before classes would be let out, and so only one of the faculty members was on duty within – a bespectacled young woman indicated by her nameplate to be an Itou Mayuri, busily grading math exams at a cluttered desk lined with framed photographs. At the knock, she looked up from her work with a cordial smile.

"Hello." She said. "Can I help you?"

The man standing in the doorway was slightly unshaven, dressed in a black suit and trenchcoat.

"Making eye contact, he said: "My name is Tohsaka Tokiomi, and my daughter Rin is a student in class 2-A. I was told that somebody in this office would be able to help me get ahold of her. There's been a traffic accident, and my wife is about to undergo intensive surgery."

It was only after he mentioned his name that Mayuri realized she'd met him previously on one occasion, back when his daughter had transferred in three months ago. It might have been the empty, driven look in his eyes that had thrown her off initially. He'd been far more collected at their previous encounter, and there was a genuine distraught in his overall bearing that hadn't been there before.

"Should I, er, inform Rin of the situation?" She asked, standing urgently and approaching the door.

"I'll think of a way to break it myself on the way to the hospital." He replied. "Just tell her that there's been a family emergency, and that I'll be waiting for her in the parking lot."

"I understand." Said Mayuri. "If there's anything that the school can do to accommodate you, feel free call us."

Solemnly, the man nodded.

"Thank you for your concern."

* * *

In the visitors' parking lot behind the school Tohsaka Tokiomi's black Bentley Continental was nowhere to be seen.

To be honest, Rin hadn't expected to find it in the first place. Mifune City was a good fifteen kilometers away from Fuyuki, and it was doubtful that her father would spare the time to personally drive the distance while the War was still ongoing, emergency or not.

Was it one of her father's enemies, then? She thought that she might caught a faint reaction from her compass a bit earlier, right before Ms. Itou had come to collect her – but the device had since fallen silent, and her suspicions were left unconfirmed. Surely an enemy that intended her harm would be employing magecraft of a detectable magnitude, thought?

As a magus, Rin's skills were as yet unpolished, but she knew that in the event a true threat presented itself, there wasn't any use in becoming flustered. Preservation of an analytical calm could lend even a complete amateur a chance of prevailing against the most difficult of odds. As heiress to the House Tohsaka, it was her duty to respond to all challenges with composure and elegance.

"I know you're here." She said, gripping the gemstone keychain she carried in her pocket in case of emergencies. "Unless you think that an elementary school student could defeat you in a straight fight, you might as well show yourself."

Magi carried themselves with a degree of pride. It was an inherent part of the culture – and no dedicated practitioner of thaumaturgy would let pass an insult to the fruits of their labor. If she could just get the enemy to expose themselves, there was a chance that she'd contribute to her father's victory in the War…

* * *

Were Rin's opponent the sort of magus she imagined, the tactic that she chose might have provoked precisely the anticipated response, for good or ill.

The man she faced, however, was not possessed of the typical hubris of the thaumaturgical academia. The sin that shaped _his _every action was the serpent called _necessity_, and in the miracle that he wrought, he found no ontological worth or beauty. Even the unique mystery that had engraved his epithet in the whispers of magi everywhere was to his mind nothing but yet another tool, to be used or discarded as the situation called – and a young child untrained in any form of combat was hardly a situation that required magecraft to be brought to bear.

It was thus that Tohsaka Rin's prudent monitoring of her golden compass yielded no warning whatsoever as her assailant made his move. With a soft discharge of compressed air from somewhere across the lot, a tranquilizer dart containing a low dosage of incapacitating agent was suddenly planted in the girl's neck; and unceremoniously, she collapsed to the pavement.

Holstering his weapon beneath his trenchcoat, a man emerged from behind a parked van and brought a mobile phone to his ear, expressionlessly gazing downward as he walked over to the girl's prone form.

"The target has been apprehended at Route C," Said Emiya Kiritsugu. "I leave the cleanup at your discretion."

* * *

The skills of those who served the Committee could not be compared along a single dimension. Each agent fulfilled a sufficiently distinct function that there was no great meaning in assigning scores of general capability across the board. But fit of credential was only one qualifier for selection; and in the end, factors such a personal history or prospective role in the future Committee's plans were accounted for in task assignment.

For all of her considerable talent, Ikari Yui was not the best and the brightest to have taken to the field of Metaphysical Biology – and strictly speaking it wasn't actually her discipline of expertise. Why, then, had been the one summoned to lead the Fuyuki Response Team?

The issue had plagued her since her orders had arrived. It was obvious that she was being put through an examination of a sort, but there was nothing about the assignment itself that suggested a compelling justification for her involvement specifically – and it was uncharacteristic of the Committee to issue a straightforward assessment of competence without personalization.

Things hadn't begun to add up until an automobile-mounted camera that she'd set up to monitor the first procurement site had registered the face of a phantom from her most painful of memories.

The Magus, he was named – a mercenary and assassin known for his talent in bypassing the best of security precautions, as if by magic. On an overcast, rainy afternoon nine years ago, her father had begged him for mercy on her behalf, kneeling on the muddy pavement besides the burning wreckage of their sedan. As she looked on, paralyzed in fear, the tall and dark stranger had fired his pistol, splattering the contents of her father's skull across the street.

Slowly approaching her then, he'd looked into her eyes and said. "Forget what you've seen here."

But there was no way she could forget the emptiness of his gaze; the gleam of the flames along the barrel of his pistol. Etched at the core of her being, the figure of the Magus had at some point become to her the embodiment of all the sins of the world – and her participation in the Grand Work was purposed ultimately to forge a kinder reality in which such men could never come into existence.

For her ideals, no sacrifice was too large.

The Chairman knew all of this, of course. Yui could sense his hand in the tailoring of the scenario she now faced – a subtle accounting for her idiosyncrasies – and that alone hinted vaguely at the objectives she was presumably expected to fulfill. Keel Lorenz had, after nine long years, presented to her father's executioner on a silver platter, and he would be evaluating her every reaction in context of task performance. In very simple terms, it was a test of character.

'_The question is,_' She thought, swiping her ID through an elevator card-reader. '_what sort of response does he deem acceptable?_'

* * *

In the course of her training, Irisiviel von Einzbern had been taught that anything attainable by way of magecraft was definitely possible in its absence. She'd long accepted this as a fundamental postulate of her practice, but not without a certain unvoiced skepticism. As far as she had known, the non-thaumaturgical sciences had never replicated even the most basic staples of magecraft – the direct reshaping of solids via transmutation, for example. The claim at face value was rather difficult to accept.

Her skepticism, however, was now in the past tense.

The hexagonal chamber that she had awoken within was about the size of a small auditorium, with surfaces of bare cement and a mirrored observation window on one of the wall – a bit like an operation theater that Kiritsugu had once shown her a photograph of. Its original purpose was difficult to discern, but aside from the portable outhouse and the two beds that she and the still unconscious Saber respectively occupied, the corners of the space had been furnished with a series of machines connected to plexiglass vessels. Suspended within in orange fluid, twitching, eyeless fetuses linked by the hinds of their skulls to thick black cables continuously generated a resonance within the environmental mana.

There was no prana being converted or released; and no attempt was being made to utilize the reverberation to achieve any sort of coherent magecraft – but by some principle beyond Irisviel's immediate area of familiarity, spell invocation within the room was blocked by what appeared to be a purely mechanical action. It felt as if the mystery of Alchemy itself was out of reach.

Tasteless of instrumentation aside, as a bounded field formulation, it approached genius – and as far as Irisviel could tell, it had been achieved without so much as a basis in formalcraft.

Hours of fruitless experimentation had yielded only the conclusion that she would be unable to escape under her own power; and it had occurred to her that even if she did, the katana-wielding Servant that had captured her in the first place was presumably lying in wait somewhere beyond the walls. Saber, who might've been able to brute-force an exit, was still unconscious from prana deprivation and the resonance seemed to be interfering with her recovery as well.

With such resources at their disposal, why had the enemy chosen merely to incapacitate them?

"It's called jamming, if that's what you are wondering." Said a feminine voice from a speaker installed near the observation window. "If a broadcast is rendered unrecognizable due to static, it can't very well be used to trigger a response, no?"

There was a person standing in the window, which had become transparent – a smiling young woman wearing a white laboratory coat, standing before a microphone.

"I have to apologize for the state of your accommodations." She continued. "We'll have something more comfortable set up for you in the staff dormitories soon, so please bear with us for the moment."

The window was only eight or ten meters away, but with the bounded field in place, Irisviel found her sense incapable of reading anything meaningful about the girl's presence. Going by mannerism, however, there was a distinct mismatch with what Irisviel had expected of the enemy Master. Kiritsugu had reminded her time after time that judgements with tactical consequences shouldn't be drawn from the appearances alone – but it was difficult for Irisviel to mentally connect the girl's general bearing with authorship of her and Saber's current circumstances. Perhaps she was an assistant? She looked like she could hardly be out of gymnasium.

"What is it that you want with us?" Asked Irisviel, thinking to keep things straightforward.

"A number of things that can wait until later." Replied the girl. "For now. I just need a bit of information from you, regarding the man that arrived at the scene of our engagement shortly after we retrieved you. Japanese, maybe thirty-five to forty years of age – a bit unshaven? We have reason to believe that he's an acquaintance of yours."

Kiritsugu. She was looking for Kiritsugu.

"I'm afraid that you'll have to be more specific than that." Replied Irisiviel, carefully schooling her tone and expression. "There are a number of people fitting that general description who might have a reason to come looking for me, and I'm not on particularly familiar terms with all of them."

The girl's smile dropped a bit.

"There's no need to be so guarded, Miss." She said. "Despite what you may believe, I'm not your enemy, and you have my word that it isn't my intention to harm or otherwise inconvenience you or your friend. I really must have this information, though, and I would appreciate it immensely if you could help me."

"My answer hasn't changed." Said Irisviel.

The girl sighed.

"I'll be back to check up on you every few hours, to see to your meals and so forth." She said. "If you remember anything of use – even if it's just a nickname, or part of a contact number – please mention it."

The girl gave her a nod, and the window abruptly reverted to a mirrored surface, leaving Irisiviel to the silence of her worries. There was no shaking the feeling of offness about the situation; and the girl – Master or assistant, or whatever she was – hadn't taken advantage of her position of obvious superiority to extract information regarding Kiritsugu. Instead, there was all of this low posturing and _politeness_, as if she were merely playing hostess. It didn't make any sense.

'_She didn't seem very concerned about the threat that Saber potentially poses to this atelier, either_' Thought Irisiviel, sitting down on her bed. '_If it isn't that she's confident in the security measures they have set up, then she's absolutely certain that the Servant can neutralize us if we become a problem._'

Aloud, she whispered to herself. "There has to be something that I can do. I can't become a burden…"

* * *

V17 b-005, or just 'Beta-Five' in short, was waiting for Yui in the corridor, holding his helmet at his side. Seeing him,she smiled and ruffled his pale, silky hair with a hand. For all that he physically appeared as a teenager, he was in many ways far from maturity.

"You shouldn't worry for me so much." She said. "So long as the Noise Blanket is active, they won't be able to harm me."

A bit reluctantly, the boy nodded his acknowledgement.

"Do you have anything to report?" She asked.

"Seven surveillance units classifying as Type: Sepias have crossed the proximity within the past three hours." He replied mechanically. "None have lingered unnecessarily, and per your orders, I have kept primarily to desynchronization. I was unnoticed."

Yui permitted herself to grin."

"It seems as if our practical trails are getting some results, then." She said. "I think we're just about ready to see how well you fare against an actual Type: Green…"

* * *

The signal was a directed pulse of prana, too faint to be sensed outside of its trajectory.

"The preparations are complete, my lord." Said Tohsaka Tokiomi, bowing slightly.

Archer, garbed in his full armor, stepped to the corner of the rooftop and looked downwards.

"And this is what passes in this era as a residence of the nobility?" He asked. "Unsightly, Tokiomi. Truly unsightly."

"Lancer and his Master have selected this building crosswise from us as their base of operations." Said Tokiomi. "It doesn't appear to be a proper atelier, but their defenses are fairly robust."

Archer sneered.

"It wasn't necessary for you to indicate the ruffian's position to me, Tokiomi." He said. "I can smell his stench from here." The air behind him began to distort, forming a fluid, golden surface. "As for these meager fortifications – they cannot withstand even the strength of a child."

From the golden surface, a silver dagger with a series of slots cut along its upper edge emerged. It wasn't a Noble Phantasm that Tokiomi was familiar with, but his memory it roughly resembled a medieval swordbreaker. With a glare that Archer directed at the visual haze of the building's bounded field, the blade shot forth with a high-pitched shriek.

Tokiomi had expected that the weapon would tear or perhaps simply dispel the enemy's protections. He vastly underestimated the damage that would result.

Eldritch light expanded from the point at which the dagger contacted the barrier's surface, but even as its passage sounded a thunderous crash, there was no slowing of the blade's descent. It planted itself into the wall of the building's sixth floor, generating an uncharacteristically liquid ripple in the surrounding tiles and cement – the onset of the shattering, which raced across the rest of the surface. Once or more of the central supports must have been damaged in the initial impact; for the seven upper floors collapsed upon themselves like a sand castle before the sea's tide, releasing a billowing cloud of dust and glass fragments into the streets below.

Demolishing a building from Shinto at 04:48 PM was not exactly a proper way to kill your enemies while keeping the Mystery of the Grail War under the rug, but even without the Overseer's 'blessing', the fear both the serial killer now known as the 'Demon of Fuyuki' and the debris caused by the engagement between the Servants of the Einzberns and the Matou caused in the civilians, were enough to ensure there wouldn't be any trouble for his allies to cover up the incident.

"By my word, Tokiomi, you are permitted to sanction the Master before the Law of the King," Said the Servant, carefully scrutinizing the spreading debris. "but for the affront that the Hound has dealt, he shall be my quarry alone. It would be sagacious of you not to intervene."

Tokiomi smiled.

"I wouldn't dream of it, my lord."

* * *

**Assassin**

True Name: Hassan-i-Sabbah (Hassan of the Hundred Faces)

Master: Kotomine Kirei

Gender: Unknown

Alignment: Lawful Evil

Strength: C

Endurance: D

Agility: A

Mana: C

Luck: E

**Description:**

The 19th leader of the original order of the Hashshashin, prior to its decimation before the forces of the Khan and its subsequent reformation. The only one of those who took up the mantle of Hassam-i-Sabbah without undergoing surgical modifications of the flesh, or truly attaining an assassination technique that could be considered to fall within the domain of Zabaniya.

Originally one of two candidates selected as successors to the seat of leadership, he was chosen in favor of his rival – only known as the Zealot – for his moderate political stance, self-sacrificing patriotism and his rival's inability to create a miraculous technique of her own at all. However, he served his people in truth only out of sheer sense of duty – and not because he himself desired it. Though he never regretted his service, near the end of his life as his mind broke even further, he loathed himself for the inhuman existence that he had become – the "Sword Drawn of Stone".

Due to the nature of his skills and abilities born from his mental illness, the Hundred Faces was the only Hassan permitted to retain the flesh of his face upon the succession of the mantle. However, by the time that he took the seat, he could no longer be certain that the face he wore was in fact the one he had been born with; or even that he was male by birth.

**Skills:**

**Presence Regulation** – Rank A+: Ability to freely regulate the magnitude and quality of exuded odic presence within a range of human expressions, with coverage of the pranic signatures of typical magi. Unable to replicate presences approaching divinity. The Great Grail is unable to differentiate this skill from **Presence Concealment.**

**Drawn of Stone** – Rank A+: With application of extreme concentration, the Servant is capable of skeletal and muscular manipulation to the end of assuming an impressive range of distinct builds and physiques. Utilized with make-up for purposes of infiltration. Nonequivalent to the skill "**Self-Modification**", as nothing is actually being altered.

**Expert of Many Specializations** – Rank A+: B-Rank proficiency in up to 32 different fields of expertise; a broad cross-section of academic knowledge and professional skills obtained so to plausibly assume identities of all functions and social classes. Assassin has fragmented their personality to better organize his knowledge.

**Librarian of Stored Knowledge** – Rank C: Photographic recollection of experiences, including information consciously unacknowledged. Requires a successful _Luck_ roll.

**Noble Phantasms:**

**Zabaniya** (False)/**Delusional Illusion**

Rank: B+

Type: Anti-Self (Support)

Range: 1

Targets: 1

An inaccurate summation of the skills Assassin obtained in life, distorted by legend. Rather than permitting the alteration of his appearance and mannerisms as they originally did, the Servant's fragmented personalities are capable of attaining individual and separate existence. No longer bound by the physical limitations of the Servant's flesh, the variation of appearance from personality to personality has significantly increased. Up to 80 distinct iterations may be manifested at a given time, though some personalities are incapable of expressing themselves. Exchanges of flesh are possible with mutual consent between personalities.

* * *

**Codes for Synchronization Frequencies:**

Distinct from odic/pranic signatures, which are related to magnitude rather than frequency. More comparable with Servant parameter ranking, but still not a good match.

**Non-Typed**: Background synchronization level, containing most normal humans. However, this is actually a non-zero value. Berserker in his normal state falls here. In an early coding system made by Fuyutsuki Kozo, this was known as "Autistic Mode"

**Type: Red** – **Type: Sepia:** Blanket classification containing the majority of familiars, magecraft, and human magi. Generic supernatural phenomenon.

**Type: Orange – Type: Yellow:** Unusually strong synchronization events, including High Thaumaturgy. Most Nephilim and Servants fall within this bracket. Events upwards of Orange are often considered the domain of the Super-Solenoid, but this is erroneous. As of 2015 (Timelines affected by Second Impact), Angels with AT-Fields that read as Type: Orange or Type: Green are considered highly irregular.

**Type: Green: ** Unusually strong synchronization events. Typically, indicative of a low-ranking Super-Solenoid event. Activation of Enuma Elish in its lowest setting is a Type: Green event.

**Type: Cyan:** Berserker with Mad Enhancement, or utilizing AT-Field manipulation. As of 2015, Type: Cyan is no longer considered distinct from Type: Blue, but it is theoretically a lower level of synchronization. In actuality, the Great Grail of Fuyuki falls within this category – but data concerning its activity is filtered from readings performed by the UN-AEC.

**Type: Blue:** The domain of the Angels. Hypothetical as of 1997. Indicative of a state in which Gaia is no longer able to recognize the synchronizer as distinct from itself, even though their individuality is strongly manifest. In this state, phenomenon can be realized purely by willpower, without energy cost or sanction by any external force. Incidentally, if synchronization falls to a true zero, the individual is no longer capable of maintaining their existence as a distinct being.

* * *

**So... Assassin. Since the original fanfic was written way before Fate/Grand Order and Fate/Strange Fake expanded the backstory of the Hassan of the Hundred Faces, plus the extra skills that are an obvious sign that Assassin would be way more than the plot-irrelevant jobber that he was in Fate/Zero, I spent quite some time thinking what kind of compromise between the two versions I would end using.**

**Also, I'm still undecided if I will put the Iskandar/Waver dojo skit from the OG fanfic here, so any answers would be welcome.**


	6. God save the Queen

**So... Rebuild 3.0 + 1.0 got delayed (again), Grand Order showed that Ancient Greeks were into Kaiju and Mechas AND COVID-19 might infect us all... what a year.**

**IMPORTANT: I made some edits on the descriptions of Berserker and False Saber's description after some deeper investigation about Servant's skills and updating them to the current Fate lore (thanks Kamico-chan).**

* * *

**Chapter Six:**** God Save the Queen.**

_A small puddle of dark bile stained the ground before his sneakers. Attempting to catch his breath, Kariya grimaced at the squirming chunks within. In his tenure as a war correspondent in the Balkans, he'd seen his share of parasite-infested refugees. He possessed no formal training in medicine, but practical experience with volunteer work at various Medicins Sans Frontieres camps suggested a high probability that his condition was terminal. How much time he had left, though, was difficult to gauge._

_Over the bubbling of the park fountain nearby, Kariya heard an inhuman growl, and noticed Berserker poising himself defensively before one of the walkways leading away from the plaza. An odic signature that he hadn't noticed in his distraction was slowly approaching – and it was a familiar one. In the distance, he could hear the regular tapping of a cane._

"_Stand down, Berserker." He said._

_At his command, the armored Servant backed off, but didn't relax his guard._

"_I have to say," said Matou Zouken, stepping into view beneath the orange light of a lamp illuminating the path. "I'm impressed by your showing so far. It was rather beyond my expectations that you would play your opponents against each other to compensate for your Servant's weakness. A this you might actually have a chance at winning the War."_

_Kariya tiredly glared, thinning his lips._

"_What is it that you want?"_

_Zouken cackled, striking the brick-tiled ground with his cane._

"_Merely to convey a few words of encouragement where deserved." He replied. "As an author of tragedy, you're quite accomplished. Good to know that you've inherited at least some of my character. If I were aware of it beforehand, I might have you try for an Assassin Servant instead."_

_With theatrical frailty, the vampire hobbled forth, stopping before Berserker and scrutinizing him with a calculating smile._

"_Going by his performance against the King of Knights, this Servant of yours isn't quite as weak as I imagined either." He said. "Humor my curiosity, Kariya. You know have a respectable amount of power at your disposal – but as you're quite aware, the worms lodged in your skull are set to trigger a hemorrhage should the notion of turning on me cross your mind. How do you regard your situation, precisely? Does it fill you with feelings of warmth? Or impress upon your heart a deep appreciation of my unconditional love for you as your progenitor?"_

_And there it was: the 'Know thy place' speech – a not-so-subtle reminder that Kariya had been living the high life for far too long and should be reacquainted with his true station in life. Once upon a time, the appropriate answer might have been rage – but he had long exhausted himself of any true heat toward his vampire ancestor. All that remained now was a sort of helplessness and empty despair, tempered by hope of a better life for Sakura._

"_Go home, old man." He said softly. "I'll win your goddamn Grail."_

_Matou Zouken responded with a snicker before turning away._

"_Remember boy," He said, facing the shadowed path. "No matter how far apart we are, I'll always be with you. You cannot deny the bonds of blood and family."_

_In silence, Berserker looked on…_

* * *

Sealed in an armchair in Kariya's living room, Berserker opened his eyes.

It looked to be roughly mid-afternoon, and his Master had apparently dozed off on the couch. The news program on television was going on about some plane crash in Russia.

Experimentally, he stretched. No noticeable pain – and no real sensation to go with the unhealthy-looking splotch of dried blood across the abdomen of his torn uniform shirt. That was good news, at least; his regeneration had gone off without a hitch. With a slight burst of intent, he reasserted the original structure of his clothing, musing at the curious sensation as the cloth mending itself over his skin.

Repairs completed, he stood and walked over Kariya, prying the remote from the man's fingers and turning off the television. There were several empty cans of Yebisu Beer at the foot of the coffee table, and Berserker sighed slightly on noticing them. Drinking this early in the day wasn't a habit that he really approved of.

'_It's the first day that Kariya's taken off in a while, though, and I shouldn't deny him the smaller pleasures in life.'_ He thought, picking up the cans and heading towards the kitchen. _'At least he doesn't have a hot water penguin as a pet.'_

As Berserker deposited the cans in the recycling bin, the reddish-brown stains on the mess of paper towels in the trash caught his eye.

'_He never intended to tell me about the worms.'_ He though with a frown. _'He said that he needed the Grail to save his niece, but he wasn't gonna mention that he's practically killing himself to obtain it. He didn't want me to know exactly what was Zouken doing to him…'_

Berserker had been vaguely aware of the worms' functions before, he'd naively presumed that if Kariya didn't mention them explicitly, he knew what he was doing, and they weren't a big deal.

Lat night had proven otherwise.

With the increased demands of Mad Enhancement, it had become obvious that the creatures weren't simply supplying him with prana – they were consuming his flesh in exchange. Before the fight had even begun, the man looked as if he were on the verge of collapse. Potential effectiveness in defeating enemy Servants notwithstanding, the tactic they had employed was not a trump card they could afford to play often.

It was a good thing Kariya wasn't aware that Berserker could recall the events he witnessed in his altered state of consciousness – or else he might not have learned of the man's burden at all. It wasn't entirely a miscalculation on Kariya's part, in truth. Even to Berserker, Mad Enhancement was a bizarre creature, not at all fitting the expectations he'd arrived at from his experiences of Unit-01's episodes of rage – unlike the dark fog, which was an expected but thankfully non-risky result of his techniques of AT-Field manipulation being disrupted by his 'insanity'. Perhaps because it was more a product of his legend than any real attribute of original incarnation, the expression of the class skill merely reduced him to a combat machine that faithfully and unreasoningly executed orders. More than a little, it reminded him of a less unpleasant version of the Dummy Plug System.

'_But thanks to that, I've got a better grip on what I can do to help Kariya.'_ Thought Berserker. _'If he's unable to even think about betraying his uncle, then I'll just have to figure out how to do it for him…'_

* * *

The attack came without warning, and by the time Sola-Ui realized what was happening, Diarmuid had set her down gently in the dust-filled alleyway behind the building. With a forceful swing of the Gae Buidhe, he cleared the air within their immediate proximity.

"A projectile from beyond my range of detection." Observed Diarmuid. Turning toward Sola, he asked, "Are you capable of combat, my lady?"

"I… I only have access to the three spirits I recruited last night." She said, somewhat shaken. "The ones from London aren't obligated to come to my aid halfway around the world."

He sighed, and then froze. Abruptly pushing Sola behind a trash disposal unit, he deflected a bronze straight-blade that had been launched in their direction with the shaft of the Gae Buidhe.

"Mongrel and bitch, preparing to elope in the night, I see." Drawled an unfamiliar voice. "Truly, you're a suited pair."

* * *

At the opposite of end of the alley, the figure of a blonde man in full-golden armor casually strode forth from the haze of the dust, apparently unarmed, then jumped and landed above a dusty dumpster. Despite this, Lancer could identify no obvious openings in his stance, or any visual indication as to how the Noble Phantasm has been fired.

"Unfortunately for you, there is no escaping my authority as a King," The man continued. "and you are long overdue for sanction before my laws."

Behind him, a surface of light shimmered into existence, eerily illuminating the relative dimness of the alleyway. The ends of a dozen or more assorted weapons simultaneously pierced the fluid plane – and Lancer noted with rising alarm that each and every single one was roughly a C-Rank Noble Phantasm.

"Run!" he shouted at his Master.

Panicked, the woman started at a stumbling run – and it was milliseconds later that the summoned weapons shot forth.

There was no room for doubt; no time for Lancer to do more than acknowledge that his Lady had deactivated her circuits – presumably to make herself less of a target. Almost as instinct, his body moved, cleaving through the metal of the oncoming projectiles with the tip of his spear. One attack was not enough. Again and again, he slashed, until nothing was left of the barrage. To complement its ability to disenchant armaments, the wide blade of the Gae Dearg had been reinforced to facilitate weapon destruction – and once again, it had served Lancer well in its purpose.

The obliteration of some Noble Phantasms should've intimidated the enemy – but to Lancer's apprehension, the metallic fragments that now littered the alleyway provoked no apparent concern. Instead, the self-proclaimed king regarded the Gae Dearg with a sneer, and Lancer reassumed his opening stance. He had no means of ensuring the Lady's safety from other potential assailants, but at the least he could prevent the Servant before him from pursuing her. Hopefully, she would reinstate communications if she encountered any danger.

"The dual-pronged form of your weapon isn't intended for melee combat, I take it?" Asked the gold-clad man. "Or is this a different Noble Phantasm altogether? I hasn't the same presence as the spear I last encountered."

A dual-pronged spear?

"I'm afraid that I don't follow." Replied Lancer – but in fact, he could roughly guess the course of events that had led to the enemy's offensive. It seemed that another of Assassin's machinations had borne fruit.

"Feigning honor in the face of death, hmm?" The enemy smiled. "You're as much a fool as your former Master, then. Presented with a choice of dignity or survival in his last moments, he died the formed – and died like the dog he was."

Lancer tightened his grip around his spears.

"In my presence, you shall not baselessly slander my lord."

The armored Servant briefly chuckled, and the surface of light reappeared at his back – manifesting a larger arsenal of weapons than he'd previously employed.

"You believe that I speak in jest, mongrel?" He asked. "The one who put down your dear Master was none than my summoner – Tohsaka Tokiomi. As witness, I assure you: The method of execution was as demeaning as it was well-deserved. You've seen what was left of his corpse, have you not?"

The proper strategy would have been to retreat – to see to Lady Sophia-Ri's escape, as enough time had passed for her to be beyond the enemy's immediate range – but Lancer was not so entirely a creature of rationality. A rush of anger brought him to a sprint and disregarding that the enemy was ostensibly of a higher order of power, his mind was set to the singular task of seeking a weakness to exploit. In reply, the enemy crossed his arms before his chestplate and let fly and let fly a second barrage.

Attempting to avoid the projectiles by astralizing, Lancer encountered the same resistance he'd experienced at Assassin's ambush.

'_A bounded field.'_ He thought, deflecting several swords with the Gae Buidhe. _'Subtle enough that I didn't notice until now – and I can't very well dispel it without locating the anchors.'_

The weapons – now B-Ranked and more difficult to destroy – replenished in far greater quantities; and even as Lancer applied both of his spears to defense, cuts and tears began to form across his clothing and skin. This wasn't a war of attrition that he could afford to drag out. Clenching his jaw, Lancer switched to defending entirely with the crimson polearm in his right hand, launching the Gae Buidhe at the enemy's exposed face with a well-timed throw.

The short spear missed its mark. At precisely the right moment, the gold-clad Servant avoided impalement with a slight tilt of his head – but much as Lancer had expected, there was a slight drop-off in the onslaught of the projectiles. It was enough for his to close the distance, earning a few injuries as he thrust the armor-piercing point of the Gae Dearg in attack. The barrage concluded.

"Twice now you've missed, mongrel." Said the man in the golden armor.

Somehow, the enemy Servant had caught the shaft of the Gae Dearg in his left gauntlet, guiding it away from his body quickly enough that the edge of the spear tip left only a scratch across the armor at the side of his torso. Firmly gripping the polearm, he delivered a forceful kick to Lancer's chest, tossing him against a wall and into a trash heap a few meters away.

Even as the pain of a cracked rid made itself known; Lancer smirked at his strategic triumph.

The phenomenon through which the now classified Archer Servant delivered his attacks was an incomplete sorcery that would collapse if severed from a source of prana – and in Lancer's experience, spell-work of such complexity required an amount of preparation that would prevent immediate redeployment in the circumstance of cancellation. Deprived of his unending supply of weapon by the Gea Dearg, the threat that Archer was now greatly reduced.

"No, Archer – I struck true." Said Lancer, panting heavily as he heaved himself afoot. "Without a means of bombarding me, you've lost your advantage."

For a moment, Archer's face blanked. Then, as if he'd heard a terribly humorous joke, he began to laugh heartily.

"By the Rivers!" He said between chuckles. "You're proud of this! … You actually believe that by closing the Gates, you've obtained some sort of victory at my expense!"

The Servant of the Bow tightened his hold around the Gae Dearg, and there was a brief burst of prana. Before Lancer could even think of demanifest his weapon, its blade and shaft had shattered to shards of wood – dissipating to motes of light before they struck the ground.

There was no longer any mirth in Archer's expression.

"So long as I hold the Key of the Kingdom," said the gold-clad Servant, materializing a key-shaped short sword in his right gauntlet. "I am able to open instances of the Gate of Babylon as I will it." With a theatrical swing of the key-blade, Archer again manifested the golden distortion behind him. "The achievement for you are so laughably proud is the destruction of a single instance, of which I can produce any number." The red blade dematerialized. "And if you believe that a sharpened stick might permanently deprive a King of his treasury, then you are incurably deluded."

Lancer opened his mouth but was unable to find any words. A branch of the Tree of Manannan – destroyed as if it were a mundane wooden implement. As a Noble Phantasm, the Gae Dearg ranked only at B, but shattering a weapon crafted by a divinity shouldn't have so easy. The figure before him was a monster in the guise of a man.

"It confounds me," continued Archer. "that a supposed Heroic Spirit could demonstrate such unyielding faithfulness to a common magus of this era. Your late Master was not even worth the smallest fraction of your undoubtedly meager legend – and yet you defend his memory, like a well-trained canine. Have you no shame?"

'_This is the end of the path.'_ Thought Lancer; and in death as in life, he had failed. Even if Lady Sophia-Ri were aware enough of his quandary to reactivate her circuits and heal him here and now, there was no overcoming Archer.

Thinking to at least verbally one-up the enemy one last time, he muttered. "I don't expect that one such as yourself would know the worth of loyalty."

Archer visibly bristled at the comment.

"Rejoice, Lancer, that I am a most benevolent King." He angrily declared. From the fluid golden surface, there emerged a ceremonial longsword with an intricately decorated inset along the flat of its blade. "In my unlimited mercy, I have deigned to eradicate you with such thoroughness that the Throne of Heroes itself shall never again recall your disgraceful existence."

As Lancer grimly looked on, Archer snapped his fingers, and the sword was let fly…

* * *

Reinforcement was unfortunately an area of Thaumaturgy that Sola had neglected in her training. A purely academic magus had no need of such skills, she'd once slothfully rationalized – and in those days, critical matters of life and death had been oh-so-distant. It was too late for regrets, though; and in the here and now, activating her circuits even to provide prana to Diarmuid was probably equivalent to putting up a beacon for the enemy to strike down at range.

Incomprehensibly, the Master of Archer was keeping pace with her all-out run at what appeared to be a leisurely stroll.

"Please, Miss Sophia-Ri." He called, only fifteen or twenty meters behind her. "If you would just agree to cooperate, I swear that I shall do everything within my power to ensure your safety."

It was almost a lie.

Tohsaka Tokiomi was a smiling sociopath who concealed his utter absence of scruples behind a veneer of gentlemanly politeness – a particularly common breed of men in the high society of the Clock Tower, and one with which Sola was uncomfortably familiar. Through Diarmuid's eyes, she'd personally witnessed his handiwork.

At the collapse of the Casses Circumdant, her familiars at the Grand Hyatt had lost Kayneth and Tohsaka to pranic disorentaition, and it was an hour later than an anonymous tip led the police and media to the remains of the defeated party – "a British diplomat by the name of Archibald," according to the local news channel; "the latest of the Demon of Fuyuki's victims." Diarmuid, incensed at the report, had visited the police morgue to confirm the truth of it – and laid out across an autopsy table, he found a blood-drenched mess of dismembered flesh and bone, with bits of a face just intact enough to positively identify.. For all his insensitive idiocy, Kayneth Archibald El-Melloi had not been so evil that he deserved such fate.

Sola had very little desire to be taken into the 'hospitality' of the House Tohsaka.

Pushing over several trash cans near the end of an alleyway, she entered a suspiciously deserted street – huffing as she took stock of her surroundings. Despite the panic that the serial killer caused into the city, there should have been pedestrians around during almost rush hour, but she hadn't seen any since Tohsaka initiated his attack. He'd most likely set up a bounded field around the district to keep mundanes from getting in the way, too far beneath her detection threshold for her to notice – but if that were the case, there was a distinct chance that he wouldn't pursue if she crossed the perimeter into a more heavily populated neighborhood.

It had occurred to her to summon Diarmuid to her side, but second thoughts stayed her hand. Calling across their connection before she was reasonably safe would only burden him to protect her in a potential engagement against two opponents rather than one – and that was assuming Archer didn't just snipe her the moment Diarmuid ceased to occupy his attention. Her sole recourse was to escape under her own power – and without the use of circuits, she was forced to draw upon resources that she'd reserved as a last resort.

'_Should've had the foresight to prepare several more of these.'_ She thought, stooping behind a parked Toyota a way down the street and looking to the rooftops. _'If nothing else, this should slow him down a bit.'_

It was an advantage of Spiritual Evocation that expenditure of prana was non-mandatory in the practical applications of the discipline. Unlike familiars – which were extensions of a magus' being – properly contracted spirits were independent, self-intelligent entities, and in exchange for a pre-negotiated compensation, they would perform assorted services. For purposes of a direct offensive, the contracts that Sola had secured the night previous would be all but useless before a man who could destroy wraiths merely by clapping his hands – but there was more than one way to skin a cat.

"_**Kamaitachi!**__"_ she shouted, right as Tohsaka stepped into view.

Technically, it wasn't necessary to invoke an entity by name, but Sola-Ui found that it helped to focus the mental commands she communicated. The Kamaitachi was a minor nature spirit, local to Japan – a faerie of the wind who's physical from resembled a weasel, capable of slicing metal with its razor-sharp tail. At her call, several smooth cuts appeared through the cement of a utility pole at the man's side; and overhead, the supports of a rooftop billboard were diagonally severed, dropping it into the street.

Face shaded from the twilight by falling debris, Tohsaka smirked. It was the last thing that Sola noticed before ducking for cover; and nearly in time with the multi-ton impact, she'd sat herself against the vehicle's rear bumper, squeezing her eyes shut and covering her ears. The resulting sound was much duller than she would've expected, but in the fallout that followed, the body of the automobile was noisily pelted with fragments of cement and blacktop. When the brief metallic staccato ceased, she peered over the top of the car to study her handiwork.

Much as she expected, bent metal and shattered cement piled where she last saw Tohsaka – but there were no telltale bloodstains, or any indication that Tohsaka had been buried alive.

"I… I won?" she asked. He she succeeded where Kayneth had failed?

Slow footsteps approached from behind, and Sola spun. Several meters away, Tohsaka Tokiomi stood uninjured at the center of the street. The fabric of his bespoke suit remained crisp and pristine – entirely unblemished by her attack.

"I apologize for my insensitive handling of your fiancé's remains, Miss Sophia-Ri." he said, smiling disarmingly. "As you're understandably agitated, I shall take no offense at your actions against my person. I would, however, advise that you consider a parlay once you've somewhat cooled your temper."

Sola was prevented from replying. Before she could open her mouth, a brilliant light had filled the street, followed shortly by a thunderous crash. On impulse, she shielded her face, and hesitantly lowered her arms only when it seemed as if the new development wasn't threatening.

Amidst crackling electrical discharge, a chariot drawn by two immense bulls had come to a stop where Tohsaka had been standing. By some means, the well-dressed man had evaded, and was now standing at a safe distance, frowning as if slightly irked. For a moment, Sola-Ui thought that Rider had come to her aid, but the person at the chariot's reins was not the hulking brute of a man that Lancer had described. A nervous-looking boy with tears in the corners of his eyes looked warily to Tohsaka before offering her hand.

"C-c-come to me if you want to live." He stuttered.

Waver Velvet?

* * *

The certain demise that Lancer anticipated hadn't arrived. Instead his vision was filled with the fabric of a red cape, billowing in an unexpected gust as electricity arched across the walls and pavement. The King of Conquerors stood proudly before him, holding the tip of Archer's projectile between two meaty fingers.

"No Archer," said the flame-haired man. "_you_ are the disgrace." With a casual toss, he lodged the longsword in a nearby wall. "A king that spits upon other man's loyalty in no king."

Unamused, the gold-clad Servant fixed Rider with a half-lidded glare, and with a wave of his hand, he summoned forth a veritable arsenal – an array of weapons far more numerous than Lancer had previously faced.

"You would doubt the legitimacy of my rule, King of Conquerors? The mercy of my Law?" drawled Archer. "Devotion to a man of inconsequential worth cannot be considered loyalty – merely a malaise of the mind. And how, besides to put it out of its misery, would you receive a hound that so feverishly pines after its deceased Master?"

Lancer wanted to retort, but without turning, the larger man stopped him with a gesture of his hand.

"I would give him a meal and a place under my roof," Rider replied. "and by no means would I deny him his dignity." Slowly drawing the spatha at his side, he directed the tip of the blade at Archer. "That's _**my **_Law – and if you insist on doing things your way, you'll find that your sovereignty doesn't extend quite as far as you imagine."

"Oh?" asked Archer; the weapons around him drifted forward dangerously. "I'll have to rectify that, then."

"You can go ahead and try!" said Rider, grinning fiercely.

With this declaration, the flame-haired giant raised his spatha skywards, and a scorching, unnatural wind filled the alleyway with a yellow haze. As granules of sand streaked across Lancer's exposed skin with tremendous rapidity, it felt to him as if his entire world were being consumed…

* * *

When the whirlwind subsided, Tohsaka Tokiomi paced through the empty space that had been occupied by the chariot and the enemy Masters – narrowing his eyes as he studied the sand-strewn blacktop.

'_The supposed theft of El-Melloi's original catalyst may have been a fabrication, then – arranged to conceal Velvet's collusion with his plans.'_ He thought, frowning. _'Presumably, they knew of Iskandar's attributes, and positioned Velvet to serve as Master to provoke underestimation. Teleportation was to be their final trump.'_

As with the crimson lance before it, the phenomenon that had mediated the enemies' sudden departure couldn't be discerned via the Master's Perspective. The Grail-granted augmentation was sadly not the asset the clan records had made it out to be, and enemy parties of the current War were irregularly skilled in obscuring intelligence without the use of Presence Concealment.

Still, Tokiomi was observant enough that he could hazard a deduction at the underlying mechanics: At least, it involved remote spatial manipulation on par of High Thaumaturgy, achieved either by invocation of a Noble Phantasm or some heretofore undocumented skill with magecraft on Iskandar's part; Velvet wasn't so skilled as a magus that he could reproduce near-Magic independently.

'_I've revealed far too much of my hand.' _He thought, looking back upon the footprints he'd left in the fading, phantasmal sand. _'It would seem that I've done the remains of the El-Melloi camp a disservice in taking them so lightly…'_

* * *

Alone in the empty passageway, Gilgamesh of Uruk – the first Hero from the Throne, egocentric owner of the greatest treasures of Human History and Archer of the Fourth Holy Grail War – flexed the fingers of his left gauntlet.

Like the weapon he sought, the Noble Phantasm that Lancer wielded hadn't an antecedent within the Gates of Babylon – but the dual-pronged lance he'd encountered at the opening of the War seemed nowhere near as fragile, and likely wouldn't have shattered with the application of a low-level prana burst. There was a definite discrepancy in the presence exuded by the two weapons, and Lancer's toy felt distinctly unfamiliar.

"Should've known better than to trust Tokiomi's judgment." He muttered to himself. "The puppeteer behind the attack was most certainly another."

* * *

The desert extended to the horizons.

"Wh-where are we?" stuttered Sola-Ui, gaping at the sight.

The tall, well-built Macedonian standing beside Lancer gave a hearty chuckle.

"Welcome to the battlefield of my heart, young lady." He said. "I believe you sorcerous types would refer this as a Reality Marble. Very handy if you're creative with its applications."

A Reality Marble – a World Egg born from within a soul, wherein its creator was effectively a divinity. Amongst the magi, the human use of such was regarded as a myth with little basis in fact – but Heroic Spirits were larger than life, more than human. It was their nature to live beyond the bounds of humanity. Sola now stood beneath a different sky.

Materializing the Gae Buidhe in his less-injured arm, Diarmuid positioned protectively before her.

"And what is it that you hoped to achieve in bringing us here?" he asked.

"Not to intimidate, believe it or not," replied the larger man. "I have a bit of a business proposition for the two of you." He gave a wide, toothy smile. "How would you like to get your hands on the Holy Grail?"

* * *

According to the sign near the gates, the laboratory was property of the United Nations Artificial Evolution Concern.

The name sounded vaguely familiar to Berserker, and he thought he might have seen it mentioned in a history textbook at some point – or perhaps the NERV pamphlet? Either way, who it was that operated the lab wasn't a large concern at the moment. Somewhere beneath the plain-looking building, the entity that he'd come across while scouting was inexpertly concealing its presence.

'_A non-human AT-Field,'_ he thought. _'and not the only one…'_

* * *

In the darkness of the sewers, a robed man with bulging, fish-like eyes smiled.

"Fear not, my Divine Maiden." He declared. "Your faithful servant, Gilles of Montmorency-Laval, has arrived, he shall stop at nothing to deliver you from the host of the Lord!"

Within his hands the Prayer Book of the Sunken Spiral City glowed ominously…

* * *

_The King saw a small boy._

_The boy lived in a small house with his father._

_The father was a mage who made plants immortal. He had an assistant with him._

_She was the most smart and beautiful girl the boy met, but to her, the boy was just a little brother._

_She asked him what he wanted to do when he grows up. His answer was 'I want to be a Hero'._

_The boy was looking at a burning village._

_The boy knew why the village was destroyed._

_The girl proved one of father's potions and became a monster._

_The girl begged him to kill him, but he couldn't do it._

_The King saw how the girl turned everyone into undead, who then met their end at the hands of the Magi and the Executors._

_One of them found the boy and she asked him what happened._

_He told her, then the woman asked about the one who did it._

_The boy went to his father, gun in hand._

_Father was waiting for him, but he didn't care what happened with the village. Not even the girl who defended him._

_The boy loved his father, but when the latter turned his back, the boy made sure this tragedy wouldn't happen again._

* * *

When Saber awoke, all what her eyes saw was an unfamiliar ceiling.

She knew about the dream cycle and how a Master sometimes receives memories from the past of their Servants, yet this feature went both ways, which tended to be ignored since Servants have no need to sleep in order to regain strength. She doubted that her Master would like the fact she was now aware of a part of his past, but perhaps it would at least help her in understanding why Irisviel and Maiya were so loyal to him.

Her body was still aching from the brutal encounter with Berserker. She already expected whoever was the poor soul who got summoned under that Class would be a challenging foe, but she expected to be one who could be defeated with the proper techniques and skills – as countless Picts, Saxons and Vikings fallen by her sword could attest. Yet she ended biting more than she could chew; Berserker proved to be strong, skillful and completely obedient to his Master's orders and the only reason she survived at all is because whatever spell Berserker used to stop Excalibur consumed more prana than what the Matou heir could provide. It did no change that probably everyone involved in the Holy Grail War now knew her True Name and might have the means to finish Berserker's work.

"Saber? Are you awake?" a familiar voice woke her up from her musings.

"I-Irisviel?"

"Thank goodness, you are awake." The Einzbern homunculus looked taxed.

"W-Where are we?"

"I don't know. We were kidnapped by another Servant after Berserker left and dropped us here."

"Do… you know anything about them?"

"Not much to be honest, his armor is from western stock, but his Noble Phantasm is a Japanese Katana; that would indicate he's a Saber, but you're here, so…"

"Anything else?"

"His Master may be the scientist woman who's been interrogating me." Irisviel pointed to the pexiglass vessels. "She installed those machines to impose a bounded field which deny us the absorption of prana."

'_That may explain why I'm still hurting and unable to contact with Kiritsugu trough the mental link.'_ Saber wasn't liking this situation. "Anything else about this place?"

"Outside that there are dormitories around, nothing at all." Said Irisviel sadly. "We have to wait for the return of that woman to find any way to escape."

As Irisviel finished, a sound of a door opening signaled the arrival of their 'host'.

"I see your friend finally recovered from her slumber," the young woman appeared as the window opened. "I do hope that she is condition for aiding us."

"Who are you?!" Saber asked in anger. "What do you seek in keeping us captives?!"

"I would suggest that you calm your companion before we can continue." The scientist said to Irisviel. "And to answer your question, we are pursuing the entity that left you unconscious after your duel."

Both captive women were shocked. Not only she knew about the Holy Grail War, but was also looking for Berserker?

"What are you talking about?"

"Of the monster you failed to slay with the bright beam coming from your sword." That confirmed her at least as an enemy in the Grail War. "I admit, I was aware there are people capable of extraordinary feats, but from what I witnessed last night, our knowledge was found… lacking."

"What about your katana-wielding Servant?" Saber said. "He should have explained everything you need to know."

"Servant? What are talking about… ooooh." The woman said. "Didn't know you Type: Green lifeforms had already a designation for your own kind."

"Type what?" Irisviel asked.

"It doesn't matter. Now if you please-" suddenly alarm noises flared in the atelier and the scientist began calling with a phone near the window. "What do you mean 'they are coming from below'?!" the prisoners heard before the windows were closed.

"What's going on?" asked Irisiviel.

"Another Servant is assaulting this place." Replied Saber. "They may gives us a chance to escape."

* * *

"This lair has 'Central Dogma' written all over it." Muttered Berserker once he made it to the lower floors. The upper ones seemed like your average civilian-friendly laboratory - proving that some things never changed, no matter how many Impacts could happen in between, yet he felt something resembling a bounded field along with the non-human AT-Fields. He tried to communicate with Kariya, but his Master had yet to wake up from his Yebisu-sponsored break, so he decided on his own to get inside.

Passing through the elevator was child's play, using astralization to remain undetected and some cuttings and frying in the right places to shut down the cameras and the security system, nobody inside could tell an half-ghost was snooping inside their forbidden secrets, although if his past was of any reference, the employees inside might had been clueless on what was truly going on.

Despite his condition as a Heroic Spirit meant he would not be harmed by say… a free fall of many, many meters, Berserker wasn't in a hurry to reach the bottom and was grateful the place had ladders in case of emergencies. It was only after like ten or twelve minutes of non-stop going down that a familiar sight told him of what was hiding there.

"Is that… LCL?" yet the eyes of Berserker didn't lie. It did not take many steps outside the elevator door to see machines filled with the orange liquid he was so familiar with.

"Will I end finding a prototype of Unit-00 here?" he muttered.

"What are you doing here, kid?!" someone shouted.

Berserker looked at the source and found a surprised security guard, who was already moving his hand towards his hip – yet before he could reveal his weapon, Berserker lunged at the guard and punched him in the face, breaking his nose and knocking him out.

"Right… Strength Rank E- is still better than humans" Berserker noted, imagining how much would hurt if it was Saber – or worse, Archer – who had delivered that hit instead.

Quickly Berserker decided to steal from the unlucky guard anything useful – which were a five-shot revolver (New Nambu M60 according to the Grail), bullets, a keycard which identified the poor fellow as Terada Yoshiaki, a suit and pants that were too big for his body, a scarf for the cold days and some car keys.

"Should have brought Assassin's clothes for this…" Berserker put on the scarf in his head, then cut the suit and pants to fit him the best he could. After all, even if he looked like some immature _Chūnibyō_ (a term the Grail wasn't familiar with, because it would not exist until two years later), it was still a disguise at all. After hiding poor Yoshiaki inside the nearest closet, Berserker went outside, revolver in hand, looking out both the camera feeds and the source of the bounded field.

Whoever these men truly were, there was no doubt they would be the ancestors of NERV, and they knew at least some workarounds in dealing with magecraft. Berserker had to focus himself in finding if they were the responsible of the non-human signatures, hopeful they were not involved in the Holy Grail War.

"How did you get here?"

Berserker looked at the armored Servant, and once again he silently cursed his brash decision making.

* * *

Beta-Five was standing in waiting when he felt a new presence.

He consulted 'Mother' if there were new personnel joining today's test, which she denied. So, he solicited to move from his position to intercept this new entity, which was approved after Mother discovered the cameras above where shut down. It did not take too long to find the interloper.

"How did you get here?" he asked in curiosity – despite his small stature and questionable tactical choice of clothes, the intruder was capable to get inside despite being a mere human.

"Who… are you?" the outwardly young boy asked with a small fear in his voice. "A human you are not."

"I'm from Designation V17, the Fifth of its Beta batch. Abbreviated as Beta-Five." There was no reason to lie to the young human who was about to die.

"That's not a name." the interloper said, guarding his gun and holding a knife in his right hand instead.

"Why should it matter to you? Why are you here?" Beta-Five unsheathed his katana and gripped it with both hands.

"Is your Master the one in charge of this place?" He could feel that the interloper was preparing a synchronization frequency. "You should at least know about the non-human AT-Fields around here."

"That's confidential information. Prepare to die." Beta-Five charged at the hostile, blade in overhead, yet his katana failed to strike true. Indeed, the 'mere' human responded by moving his knife and parrying his attack, followed by a kick in the gut that pushed him away. _'He must be using his synchronization to enhance his strength and reflexes.'_

Beta-Five decided to try a stabbing technique, so struck aiming to the chest – yet the intruder parried the strikes until he ducked at the last stab, then parried it by hitting Beta-Five's hands with his bare knuckle, and slashed at his head, making a noticeable dent at the helmet.

"How? Are you an Adam-based lifeform?"

"Lilith, and proud of it." The stranger followed by stabbing with the knife – which looked eerily similar to his katana – at the neck of Beta-Five's armor, which he stopped by activating his AT-Field in Shield Form. "Unlike you, it seems."

"I see… Are you from Designation V5, V7 or V11?" Both of them raised their blades, even though Beta-Five noticed his opponent was in a position of imminent retreat. But before anyone could move, alarms flared from the whole complex – which the intruder took advantage to disappear from the engagement.

"Beta-Five. Where are you?" Mother was calling trough the radio.

"Near the elevator hall. I was engaging the interloper who unfortunately escaped when the alarms started. He is a young male of unknown Type, capable of matching my reflexes in desynchronization mode."

"I will warn trough radio about him, but you must come to the lower levels immediately."

"Status?"

"Those Type: Sepias you reported? They are assaulting us right now and brought their friends with them."

* * *

'_Crap, crap, crap!'_ cursed Berserker as he ran through the complex. Not only the now named Servant was without doubt someone from around his time period; unlike himself, it seemed to be he actually _trained_ in both melee combat and basic AT-Field manipulation. It was easy to tell the armored 'Beta-Five' was holding back against him. _'At least he's not that crazy archer obsessed with swords.'_

It was in the skirmish when he found out the purpose of the bounded field, deny him any prana coming through the area of effect, from which Beta-Five was immune. He tried to summon the Lancea Longini, yet nothing came up, forcing him to use the prog knife.

Nobody seemed to notice in their hurry the ill-dressed small boy who was running through the hallways, more worried about the sudden attack coming from the sewers. Berserker was sure it was work from another Servant who must have located Beta-Five and sought to kill him.

As for dumb luck, he found the security room and it was easy to get inside thanks to Yoshiaki's keycard and knock out the unlucky guard inside. Before he could destroy the cameras feed to eliminate the evidence, he had to make a quick search to find the exact source from the attack, the anchor of the bounded field and hopefully an escape route that would spare him of a long climb through the emergency stairs.

"So, this bounded field's anchor is a machine called the 'Noise Blanket' and it is found at the floor below…" Berserker muttered, checking a map nearby alongside the cameras as chaos unfolded outside. "…and they have something important guarded in an atelier nearby there which is… Saber?"

Indeed, King Arthur himself – oh wait, _herself_ – was captive along her white-haired Master, there was no doubt they were apprehended after their duel against him. Since her technique of blowing everything up with her Noble Phantasm demanded lots of prana, no doubt the Noise Blanket was what kept her in line at the mercy of Beta-Five's Master.

"She would not mind that I shut down that thing as soon as… crap…"

The screen showed the sewers and the unlucky security guards there getting maimed by some… beasts of many tentacles, rushing in horde no matter how many are taken down by the guards or the recently arrived armored Servant. Berserker noticed some of the freaks were capable to stop the bullets before it could hit their flesh.

"Well, now I know from where came those mystery AT-Fields." Only one thing was left. "Now let's find the exit before I get killed by the host's Servant or whoever summoned those things."

He found a subterranean parking lot three floors below where he was now, seemly ignored by both the monsters and the guards.

Satisfied with what he found; Berserker proceeded to cut the evidence of all the paranormal activities and left the room without issue. Yet once he made it at the floor below, the door before the Noise Blanket had a squad of five armed guards with assault rifles – Howa Type 89, informed the Grail.

He thought of using astralization, but quickly concluded it was not an option – otherwise Saber would had already found a way to free herself already, so Berserker gripped his revolver with both hands and opened fire at the group.

"My arm!" one of them shouted, and his squamates responded with burst fire. While Berserker knew those bullets wouldn't be able to hurt him, he had to keep the illusion that he was still a 'mere' human, so he dropped to the floor to avoid the bullets and fired back the last four shots left, wounding other two guards.

The two hostiles left kept firing at Berserker, who kept avoiding the bullets by rolling through the floor. Once the weapons made click noises signaling the magazines had run dry, Berserker got up grabbing his M60's cannon, lunged at the two guards and whipped them to a bloody unconsciousness.

Berserker took away the Howa from the first wounded, who until a stomp in the face forced him to shut up, could only curse him. After putting the selector switch in Semi, he opened the door with the keycard – but what he saw inside wasn't exactly what he was expecting to find...

* * *

Saber and Irisviel couldn't do anything but to hear the sounds of alarms and the occasional gunshots. They hoped – no matter how unlikely it was – that Kiritsugu managed to find then and was now rising hell on whoever captured them; but even if it was the case, the bounded field made it impossible to Saber to have enough prana to stand a chance against the katana-wielding Servant.

"Irisviel, look at the tubes!" Saber said, and both women looked at the plexiglass vessels, where the fetuses where dissolving at a quick pace.

Suddenly, they felt the constant resonance evaporating, and both realized they finally were starting to feel prana coming to their bodies. That reprieve was cut shout with the whole atelier starting to quake in an increasing pace. They noticed the window/mirror opening, but instead of their captor, they saw a small man whose head was covered in a scarf and an oversized suit.

"Who are-"

"No time to explain," responded a young voice interrupting Saber. "you guys better get out here befor-"

But then the atelier's floor broke apart and dozens of the tentacular monsters rose from there, some of them carrying the remains of the guards they dismembered. They surrounded the prisoners, yet they did not move to strike. Saber felt a strong presence answering her why.

From the hole rose a particular tall, fish-faced man in blue robes with a pattern of dyed crimson red and holding a book exuding eldritch energy.

"It's been a long time, Holy Maiden." Caster spoke, standing above a group of his monstrous familiars. "But at long last, this war has finally brought us together!"

"What are you talking about?" a confused Saber asked.

"Of course, I no longer wear the grab of a knight, but it's me, your old companion Giles de Rais." Casted responded.

"I'm afraid I don't follow."

"Y-y-you must be joking, right? There's no way the Maiden of Orleans would forget her most faithful follower despite all these years"

"I am not who you think, Caster."

A tense silence ensured, which was broken by an inhuman scream.

* * *

Berserker saw horrified as Caster howled in rage, who then cursed God for keeping cursing 'his' Jeanne with amnesia and holding her captive under these 'amateur alchemists'. Caster then summoned more Horrors, who then grabbed Saber and Einzbern below the atelier, further underground.

Without thinking, Berserker grabbed a chair nearby and threw it at the window, breaking it after a few tries. He then jumped outside and followed Caster's horde.

Walking across the debris, Berserker heard sounds of flesh being cut apart and followed them to another open space. Aiming with the Howa, he noticed Saber trying to pass trough the horde of monsters. Caster for his part, used the other monsters to keep the literal high ground and used the rest to keep Irisviel captive.

"It's useless to fight, Jeanne!" gloated Caster. "these familiars of mine will devour this German maiden like birds of carrion." Some of the Horrors went to surround Irisviel, ready to eat her alive. "Now you will know the powerlessness of the unjust God who let you die at the stake!"

Anyone who saw the horrifying spectacle could effortlessly tell that Caster's monsters were at least of dark colors.

Berserker saw them white.

The Einzbern Master still possessed the white clothes, dirtied by imprisonment and the liquids from her captors.

The Servant from the future saw them red.

There was no sense in the form of the familiars – the eyes, the mouth nor the organs were place where they should be, and no clear expression could be seen.

Yet Berserker saw them as grinning vultures.

In the past, that situation would have either broken his will completely or driven him to a savage wrath more fitting of his assigned Class. But now even as his eyes were showing him the truth, his right hand was holding the summoned Lancea Longini, urging him to once again to act and _not let it happen again._

As the monsters were about to devour Saber's Master, an ethereal flame covered the Noble Phantasm as it began to accumulate prana. The path was clear.

'_I should've let Caster kill them,'_ Berserker though as he unleashed his Noble Phantasm. _'well, his fault for reminding me why I'm here.'_

"**LONGINI!"**

* * *

Saber heard a shout, followed by a red flash crossing trough the monsters holding Irisiviel, melting them into the orange fluids that were inside the machines.

'_Lancer?'_ That was the only class where the man known to mercy-killing Jesus Christ would fit in, yet she couldn't feel his presence.

"WHO DARES TO INTERRUPT OUR REUNION?!" Caster hallowed at the intruder, moving more Horrors towards the source of the strike.

"Hostile identified." Another voice joined in. "Commencing extermination." The katana-welding Servant jumped at Caster, who recovered from his shock soon enough to summon more monsters to protect him.

"Let's get out of here!" Saber grabbed Irisviel and escaped across the chaos, going through the hallways, looking for any exit from this prison.

"Hold it!" A pair of armed guards pointed at the fugitive women – but at this point Saber was tired and angry but holding enough prana to destroy these mere humans. In a mere blink she cuts them down with an invisible Excalibur, their prana now feeding further Saber's recovery.

Irisviel was not helpless either, more than once another guard or Horror who tried to flank them met their end with her wires, which either formed small weapon to strike them or just immobilize them until Saber finished them off. While her magecraft wasn't made for direct combat, Kiritsugu made it very clear the need of self-defense techniques in case neither him nor Saber could assist her in time.

Yet, no matter how many foes fell down, they weren't any closer to find an exit – and the number of Caster's minions seemed to grow. Suddenly Saber grabbed Irisviel forwards a corner, just in time to avoid a barrage of heavy gunfire.

The FN Minimi light machine gun roared at the pair, barely covering the maniac laugh from its user – driven insane from the battle with the eldritch familiars. Saber was preparing to counterattack when new gunshots put down their enemy.

"Are you guys alright?" the same young voice who warned them in the atelier called them.

"Identify yourself!" Saber responded. "Why are you here?"

"Well… name's Balcony and I'm a mercenary cursed with eternal youth, looking for a cure," the 'young' man raised his hands, dropping both his rifle and revolver. "so, I know my small bits about magic. Who are you?"

"I am Irisviel von Einzbern and she is my bodyguard Altria Woodgate," Irisiviel spoke. "we were kidnapped by these men last night when we arrived at this country."

"I won't ask what you did to anger the UN," a quake was felt. "only that we can escape through the parking lot before this lab becomes the Innsmouth of the 20th century."

"There's a catch?" Saber asked.

"That you don't kill me… nor kidnap me."

Saber and Irisviel looked at each other and then nodded at him in approval. There would be time to interrogate the odd enforcer.

"Well, then… I will take point. Can you watch our backs?" he said as he recovered his weapons.

"We will."

* * *

"The Committee will not like this." Ikari Yui muttered as she went across the trashed laboratory, Minebea 9mm pistol in hand, looking at the carnage. "Beta-Five, got any updates?"

"Mother, the hostile Type: Yellow identified as 'Giles' and 'Caster' had disengaged after I wounded his face and I'm finishing off the Type: Sepias left behind."

"Once you do that try to block any possible way of escape, we can't let our 'guests' get away."

"Understood." Beta-Five cut off communication. Yui allowed to make a sigh, everything went from fine to FUBAR in a span of a few minutes. It was still too soon to identify the guilty parties, but the sabotage of the Noise Blanket – and almost every security measure but the radio – that allowed the… things inside seemed made either by Emiya or a copycat of his work.

The other thing was the 'identities' of the humanoids Types; the idea of watching a discussion between an gender-flipped King Arthur and an occult cultist Giles de Rais was too ridiculous to be believe… until 'Longinus' decided to introduce himself like a Sentai sidekick by throwing a red spear that… melted the monsters into LCL before both him and the spear disappeared.

How it was possible? Who did this? How did they bring people back from the dead? How they were granted supernatural powers in their new lives? What is the reason they are fighting for? What would be next? A boxing duel between Sima Yi and Otto von Bismarck? And why they weren't filming this on TV? They would win millions with the Americans alone!

And somewhere between all of this, both Emiya Kiritsugu and the mysterious Type: Cyan seemed to be part of the show.

"There's no way I can contain a death-match between historical figures, can I?" he asked to none in particular. "How the hell nobody was aware of this?"

'_The Committee did know.'_ Her mind responded. _'If this happened before, they saw fit to not interfere until now.' _Just as she starting to figure out her next steps, she received a call.

"Ikari here."

"We got hostiles in the parking lot, we need baaaaaargh!" the call was interrupted by gunshots and flesh being cut. Ikari cut communications and called Beta-Five.

"They are in the parking lot."

"They will not escape."

* * *

"Which of you ladies knows how to drive a car?" Berserker asked at the pair and Irisiviel raised her hand like an enthusiastic child. He was glad the keys he stole did work in one of the cars parked inside. "Then take these, do your thing and let's get out of here."

"Can't you drive?" Saber raised an eyebrow.

"Only bikes at best." Confessed Berserker. _'And apocalyptic mechas, but they don't need to know that.'_

"Was your curse responsible of that?" Irisiviel asked as they got inside the car, a black Toyota Supra MKIV. In an unspoken agreement, Saber went as copilot while Berserker sat in the rear.

"Not really," said Berserker. 'to me the curse's greatest problem is find a partner who isn't either underage or a pedophile… I pity whoever also got it."

* * *

Somewhere in a timeline in heavy danger of being pruned by the Counter Force, a pair of pilots sneezed at the same time.

"Why I feel Puppy Boy is feeling sorry for us?" a brunette with glasses asked her one-eyed colleague.

"I'm going to rip his guts if that's the case!" the enraged redhead said in a sharp tone.

* * *

Berserker felt an ethereal shudder in his back. _'I'm still getting used to this new body. It must be.'_

"So how did you get cur- GET DOWN!" Saber saw that the silver-plated Servant was after them began to fire at them with a pair of strange handguns. Her warning ensured nobody was hit.

In reflex, 'Balcony' responded with firing his Howa even though his mind was screaming that _guns don't work on Servants_. Beta-Five raised his AT-Field to stop the bullets, then to add insult to the injury he opened fire again.

'_Is that knave an acquaintance of Berserker?!'_ Saber cursed as more supersonic bullets flew above her head, recognizing the same spell the Servant of Rage used last night. Thankfully Irisviel started the motor and put the Supra at full speed, going from 0 to 100 km/h in a few precious seconds.

"Did we lose him?" Irisviel asked.

"No…" 'Balcony' gulped. The Servant was running at the car and he was shortening the distance. Enough to open fire at them again.

"Bloody hell!" cursed Saber as even more bullets narrowly missed hers and Irisiviel's heads. Balcony returned fire, but this time the Servant merely jumped at his side then kept firing.

Then to worsen things, alarms flared trough the road.

"Warning, emergency gates will close in sixty seconds." An automated voice announced. "Roadblock will be installed to stop the fugitives."

"Can this car jump or something?!" complained 'Balcony' as he reloaded the rifle. "This is the last mag, by the way."

"Of course these things can't jump…" Saber responded, but then her face shined. "but I know how to make it so." Her face hardened. "Madam, go as fast as you can."

"Alright."

"Balcony, I'm going to elevate this car and when I do, shoot that armored bastard with all you got."

"I hope this works." Muttered Berserker, as he switched the Howa at Auto.

Saber then cut a hole in the car's floor, enough to let her body fall outside if needed.

"We got spikes upon us!" warned Irisviel.

"Everyone, hold on your seats." Saber aimed Excalibur to the floor.

"Warning, emergency gates will close in fifteen seconds." The automated voice over intoned.

Saber conjured Invisible Air to imitate a width compression spring, based in some observations she made on some of Kiritsugu's traps during her year in Germany. Then, just as the spikes were about pierce the wheels, Saber made her move.

She extended the spring and just as she betted, it propelled the car above one meter. Beta-Five jumped too at the same height of his prey, only to receive gunfire which he blocked with his AT-Field. It would take just a few seconds until the Howa ran dry.

It was all what Saber needed.

She put herself upside down through the hole up her waist, aimed Excalibur at the silver Servant and just as Balcony was distracting him, she vented her frustrations at the foe.

"_**Strike Air!**_**"** she spent most of her mana reserves in this one shot.

And unlike with Berserker, it aimed true.

The cutting winds hit in the right foot of the pursuer, shattering the armor and cutting the member off its body. That was enough to destroy Beta-Five's concentration and dispelling his defensive spell, receiving the last bullets from the Howa destroyed his equilibrium and then he landed with his face in the floor.

Saber used the last of her strength to pull herself up inside the Supra before it landed. Just as it did, the car manages to surpass the closing gates and at long last, achieve freedom.

"We lost him." 'Balcony' informed at the group as they went far away from the laboratory.

"We did it!" Irisviel chirped excited.

"Thank God…" Saber allowed herself to be at ease. "we should find a place to hide and contact our friends."

'_She learned from our duel'_ Berserker though with hidden worry. _'And I have to yet know the Class of that silver warrior, but by process of elimination, he must be Rider'_

'_Uhhhggg… Berserker, I might need to change my post-celebration drinking habits…'_

'_Kariya!? Since when are you awake?'_

'_Half an hour – I think – ago, but I started to use the link just in this last minute once the hangover let me. Can you tell me why you are in a battered sports car with Saber and her Master?'_

Berserker sighed externally. _'It's a long story, Kariya…'_

* * *

**Weapons from the Gates of Babylon:**

**Phersephassa** (Archetype)/**Maiden of Stillness**

Rank: B+ (A++)

Type: Anti-Unit (Anti-Fortress)

Range: 1 (1~99 as projectile)

Targets: 1

A child's dagger intended for self-defense, gifted by the goddess that came to be known as Thesmophoros to her young daughter, a conceptual weapon. The blade is imbued with a divine curse that momentarily dislocates targets from the concept of "movement" – but as all things exist in a state of continuous flux, the "stilled" object is very briefly subjected to an immense inertia, resulting in collapse. Targets are designated by the mind of the wielder and may range from living entities to nonphysical existences such as spell effects. With increased energy consumption, the effect of the curse may be applied to larger-scaled targets.

**Vaitarna**/**The Blood-Darkened Waters of Oblivion**

Rank: EX

Type: Anti-Unit

Range: 1 (1~99 as projectile)

Targets: 1

A ceremonial longsword resembling a khanda, whose blade is inset with intricate relief images depicting war and peace, a conceptual weapon. The blade dates from the dawn of the Age of Gods, and its original wielder is unknown. Those that die by its edge are said to be annihilated from the cycle of the World – erased from the memory of Alaya. Merely as a physical weapon, the strength of the Vaitarna is equivalent to a Rank B+ Noble Phantasm.

(Note that it's only "said to" have such an effect. The actual, observable effect of records and memories regarding the victim, much like Assassin Jack the Ripper's Information Erasure. The only person who remembers the victim is the killer; and whether or not Alaya itself recalls the victim is unconfirmable. It doesn't erase the information from the Throne of Heroes, which exists independently of time and timelines)

* * *

**Bloody hell, I did it... I managed to catch up the original... I hope to not dissapoint you.**


	7. The Last Stooge

**I guess this is the first 100% original chapter on this reboot of Solenoid Flux. Enjoy.**

* * *

**Chapter Seven:** **The Last Stooge**.

"Yes, I see, keep an eye on them and may God be with you" Kotomine Risei sighed once he finished this call, apparently the police of Fuyuki went high-alert not only because of the demolition of a cheap apartment building in Shinto (which he knew it was necessary to not compromise Tohsaka's advantages), but that at 05:47 PM he was informed some patrols were pursuing an almost-demolished sports car driven by a reckless person, who managed to lose them in the Shinto Slums.

"Has Assassin identified the driver of that car, my son?" Risei dearly hoped that it had nothing to do with the Grail War, but after some investigations implied that someone attacked Lord El-Melloi a few hours before he unleashed his _Casses Circumdant_, the Overseer feared that a few Masters were forgetting that the War was supposed to be fought at night.

"Yes." Kotomine Kirei said. "They are the missing Einzbern Master and Saber, plus an odd-looking short man. Assassin also informs the back of the car is filled with holes caused by modern day firearms."

Risei pinched his nose, it seemed that someone was lucky enough to kidnap a Master, but also stupid enough to kidnap a client of the Magus Killer.

"Anything else?"

"Apparently, the man is an enforcer who was the one who rescued the Einzbern team, who are now interrogating him… he claims that the state of his body was caused after his family tried to make a bid for godhood, but the ritual got highjacked and everyone involved but him died."

Risei sighed. Typical Magi.

"He also seems clueless on the identity of whoever kidnapped von Einzbern, but he gives them a keycard, probably as a clue."

"They must have a lot of resources…" Muttered Risei.

"Also, by uniting certain pieces of the conversation, at least two other Servants apart from Saber were involved in the escape, one of them on the side of the kidnappers. There was mention of a throwing Noble Phantasm which melts its target."

Well, that was complicated. He could see Rider or Berserker as the only Servants crazy enough to get involved, and there was a possibility that with or without them, this was the engagement where Caster decided to show themselves, most likely under orders of the kidnappers.

"And then the Einzbern puts a spell on the mind of the enforcer, 'suggesting' him to leave Fuyuki at once and to not get involved further," it was clear the man was lucky to survive while remaining clueless of the Holy Grail War. "also, his code name is 'Balcony'. No mention of Emiya Kiritsugu at all." He finished, sounding a bit disappointed.

"That would be enough, order Assassin to leave the Einzbern and follow this 'Balcony' instead."

"Understood, Father." If Risei was more patient, he would had discovered a wrong assumption that would've doomed the ruse Matou Kariya and Berserker were playing on everyone else – but alas, it would take a few more days before the gig was up and by God Almighty, they would regret not catching it sooner.

* * *

"So, what you make about him Saber?" Irisviel asked once Balcony left their sight among the buildings.

"I can't believe we owe our lives to Assassin of all Servants." Saber responded. 'Balcony' was too good in sabotaging these AEC knaves without previous planning to be someone else. And the Lance of Longinus? Either he somehow grabbed it in his mortal life or got it from contacts of his Master. "It's a good thing your driving was enough to stay his hand."

"Saber~" Irisviel whined. "It wasn't that bad."

"He was shaking in fear until we stopped," Saber said. "a few more dozen cubits and he would have started to pray at Allah for deliverance." The Servant of the Sword did not want to admit she was also spooked with Irisviel's driving.

"Still, don't you find curious that a Servant is capable of decently handle firearms?"

"He must have a skill that allows him a proficient control of weapons of all kinds or had enough time to learn the old-fashioned way between his summoning and now." Saber sighed, she felt that if anything, Kiritsugu would have preferred to have that Assassin instead of her to fight the War. Speaking of him, where was he when they getting stomped by Berserker?

Nevertheless, she decided to send a mental message to Kiritsugu about their situation, since Irisviel lost her cellphone – probably 'confiscated' by that loathsome woman.

'_Master, we were kidnapped by another team after the duel with Berserker. We don't know the exact identity of the Master or her Servant, except that they hide under a UN taskforce named 'Artificial Evolution Concern' and that the Servant may share legend with Berserker.'_

A silence followed, but Saber knew he was listening.

'_We were freed by Assassin, who assaulted the complex we were retained and aided us in driving back the other Servant plus Caster. It was messy and we were pursued by the police at the end, but the Madam managed to lose them.' _Saber sighed. _'The identity of the Servant of Spell is Gilles de Rais, and he's convinced I am an old companion of his named Jeanne, the Maiden of Orleans. We are now at the Slums of Shinto, near where I dueled Berserker.'_

Saber knew that Kiritsugu barely communicated with her directly, so she feared that her message would be lost.

'_Six blocks at the Northwest, inside an abandoned garage there's a white Mercedes Benz 300 SL, with its keys hidden below. Wait until 07:15 PM and then go to the Einzbern Castle as soon as you can without alerting the police. You drive this time, Saber.'_

"Well," muttered Saber. "those're more words than what he said to me in a whole year."

"Saber, did you contact with Kerry?" Irisviel asked.

"Yes, he has a new car ready for us to get home."

"Yes!"

"But I'm driving, Madam."

"Awwwwwww…"

* * *

'…_next time, shout me if needed, but do not go again on your own in these kinds of missions without my knowledge.'_ Kariya finished reprimanding Berserker for the mess he got involved and unleashing his secondary Noble Phantasm because Caster triggered memories of _that day_ – from whose details Berserker obviously did not want to share with Kariya.

And speaking of bad memories, Berserker was convinced it was Irisiviel the one who would teach Misato how to drive in the future. That recklessness was one of a kind.

'_Sorry.'_ For the sake of 'Operation: Backstab the Old Worm', Berserker claimed that Saber was indeed Jeanne d'Arc until Kariya 'corrected' him into her being 'Queen' Arthur instead. Since Berserker claimed he couldn't remember anything from his duel with Saber, Kariya decided to make a recount on every battle where the former used Mad Enhancement from now on.

What worried Kariya the most was the silver-clad Servant – the real Rider's True Name was Iskandar the Great and with Caster also identified, that would make the second Servant of the future an eight participant… assuming of course they did not use another method to summon him. After all, the Grail itself made most of the work in the summoning ritual – otherwise only the greatest magi could barely summon a Heroic Spirit on their own as a familiar.

The duo did not know which option was worse.

'_Ideally, I should warn the Overseer about this,'_ Kariya said. _'but I don't want to expose them the fact that you are the sanest Berserker in the History of the Holy Grail War, should other Masters be listening.'_

'_But you told me the Church is a neutral party.'_

'_The mess with Saber proved me once again what kind of scumbags the magi truly are,'_ Kariya was getting worked up in anger. _'I mean, hiding behind the goddamn UN for their experiments?!'_

'_Kariya, relax. I'm supposed to be the mad one in this pair.'_ Berserker interrupted. _'Besides, the UN in my time were assholes too, so this did not surprise me as much.'_

'_Still, a clone baby alien as an anchor for a bounded field is all kinds of messed up.'_ Kariya did calm down. '_Honestly, you should get rid of those clothes and spend the night in our apartment. Hopefully, Saber's Master will pull two and two together and warn the Church for us.'_ It was a good thing that Berserker's Divinity made him unaffected by the 'suggestion' spell, it would have made the most embarrassing waste of a Command Seal in this War so far.

'_Actually Kariya,'_ Berserker fidgeted a bit. _'I want to look in the library information about the Einzberns. The Grail told me jack all beyond them being one of the Founding Families.'_

'_Can't do at this hour, Berserker. A few nights ago, some crazy guy crashed inside and stole a World Map and a copy of The Odyssey, so the guards there are extra careful now… that said I know somebody who might help you.'_

Berserker was listening.

'_You know Verde, the main shopping center in Shinto?' _Berserker nodded. _'Among the shops someone put a "high-class" themed night-bar named Lilium,'_ Berserker shuddered at the name. _'an old classmate of mine named Chikahuru works there as a bartender and knows a bit about the hidden side of Fuyuki… I would not be surprised if it included magi families.'_

'_I will go there.'_

'However, _if a Master, Servant, and/or those UN crazies arrive; you leave, no buts nor ifs.'_

'_I will, Kariya.'_

'_Tomorrow, if things do not go too crazy, I will investigate on the UN-AEC and I will need that you inform me if any name that appears there sounds familiar to you.' _Kariya said. _'I don't know exactly when your legend will happen, but if what you said about this "LCL" is true, then getting rid of them __**will**__ become a new priority. Good luck.'_

Berserker sighed as Kariya cut the link. If the Grail worked as it was promised, Humankind would not need to be worried of his legend at all…

* * *

Assassin looked at the new enigma in this chaotic conflict. The odd enforcer identified as 'Balcony' did nothing but stand in an alleyway for around twenty minutes, and since he lacked a mundane method of instant communication like an earpiece, Assassin suspected Balcony was using a mental link to speak with his handlers. Once the false boy sighed, he finally moved on, in direction of a run-down restaurant.

It was obvious the spell from Saber's Master did not work on him, so Assassin followed his prey inside. His astralization mixed with Presence Regulation ensured nobody inside noticed him, something his target failed to do.

"Oi, shorty!" the bartended said. "The bathroom is for clients only."

Balcony said nothing, instead he pointed at the menu, specifically at the offer of seven Gyoza plus a soda.

"Do you even have money for-" the bartender was interrupted by a handful of coins and bills – which were counted and were more than enough to pay for it.

"Fine, you can go inside… friggin' tryhard." The bartender went to the chef to announce the order as Balcony went the men's bathroom, followed by Assassin. "I swear, it seems that people are getting restless these days…"

* * *

"What you want with me?" the false boy suddenly spoke as he was watching the mirror's sink, scarf still in his face.

"Sating my curiosity." Assassin materialized himself. "It's odd that a human enforcer manages to survive an encounter against three Heroic Spirits not only unharmed, but also fooling a Master into sparing his life. If I did not know better, I would say you are the Magus Killer who captivated my Master's attention."

"Since I am not him, who do you think I am, ghost?" Balcony turned around, facing the Servant of the Mask.

"My first guess would be that you are a fellow Heroic Spirit, however the Seven had already been summoned and only I have the capability of exude the same amount of od as a normal human, so you must be at least a talented mortal."

"And why would I join this war?"

"Money? Fame? Tourism? My Master isn't familiar with the snobs of the current magi society."

"The El-Melloi family are going to cut my salary once they find out what Tohsaka did with their Crest."

Assassin chuckled. "Glad to know the Clock Tower isn't full of idiots like we thought."

'_Kill him, he knows too much.'_ Ordered his Master.

Assassin lunged at Balcony and grabbed his throat with his left hand and proceeded to stab him in the head, but the knife was stopped by an invisible force before it could it the flesh.

"What th-aaAARGH!" Assassin felt a sharp pain in his gut, followed by a dozen more. He was forced to release Balcony's neck, who then kicked him away. The enforcer failed to push his advantage and received a punch in the face, landing in the wall and dropping his knife.

Assassin knew he should have pressed on, but he was perplexed looking at the cause of his wounds. The knife… it did not feel a Noble Phantasm nor a Mystic Code, just a well-made, but mundane weapon. How it managed to hurt him?

"…_**niya…**_"

Assassin sensed something was wrong.

"_**-Acidum Matariel.**_" Balcony grabbed Assassin's face with his right hand, from which a red eye appeared. Before Assassin could ask what that was, the eye started to secrete an orange fluid that rapidly melted Assassin from head to toes. Before he could scream, Balcony cut Assassin's vocal cords with his knife, ensuring nobody could help the fallen Servant.

* * *

Kotomine Kirei keep staring even as Assassin's link was cut short. The engagement's conclusion proved to be unexpected and while the death of another body was unexpected, it wasn't meaninglessness, as it proved further the danger Kayneth Archibald El-Melloi posed even after death.

Two bodies gone out of eighty, plus a third one missing. Not bad for the third day of the War.

"Father, please contact Toshaka's allies in the Clock Tower as soon as you can."

"What happened?"

"I cannot be sure, but I fear Lord El-Melloi hired a Dead Apostle to fight at his side…"

* * *

Berserker did not leave the bathroom until Assassin's corpse dissipated into prana, as he took away the scarf, washed his face and cursed like a sailor until he felt calm enough to move on.

"Did Tohsaka really do something with the Crest of Lancer's Master? And how Assassin knew about it? Didn't Lancer kill him off yesterday?" He only discovered El-Melloi's name a few hours before rescuing Saber between all the rumors about the serial killer.

He checked his hand to ensure it was back to normal, then he put his scarf back and went back to eat his probably now cold Gyozas.

The bartender was looking at him with fear in his eyes, it was clear he has heard something.

"You can keep the change, as long you say nothing happened at all in the bathroom." Berserker offered.

The bartender was happy to comply.

* * *

Ikari Yui was waiting for the personnel unaware of her true mission to communicate the new actions they would be making in the next days. She took a look at the map of Fuyuki, the idea of a secret free-for-all tournament in the city making more sense by the minute.

As in a way of taunting her, a few minutes ago arrived another report of the Type: Cyan mucking around the slums, but Yui choose to ignore it for more pressing matters, like new revelations about the intruders.

While cleaning up the lower floors, they found an almost naked guard inside a closet, who blamed a school child for his current state. Given this day, some poor kid being brainwashed by a secret agency to copycat Emiya would be a welcome breath of normalcy – but the poor man suffered a breakdown when he saw Yui, babbling nothing but: "those eyes… those eyes…"

It was worse when she asked Beta-Five about it, who did find a resemblance between her eyes and those of the Unknown Type, even suggesting that he may be a rogue agent from a new Designation that was created using Yui's DNA, or at least the DNA from one of her relatives. While a part of her admitted it would feed her ego, it also disgusted her a bit that someone already decided to create new life using her as a base without her consent.

Chairman Lorenz implanted her the difference between proper humans and people like Beta-Five, but if the latter was right, it felt wrong they may be using clones who might be more or less her own children – after her father's death, she swore that she wouldn't put her own family trough that kind of pain without a really good reason.

Also, while this 'Caster' stole a few vessels with LCL and the remains of the fetuses that weren't totally dissolved by the sabotage of the Noise Blanket, the two scientists assigned to its maintenance were executed by the Unknown Type – compared with the naked Terada, the man inside the camera room and the wounded squad who barely managed to escape the Horrors, Yui felt that it was then when Balcony's hostility to them changed to something more personal.

A knock from the door killed her mental musing. "It everyone here?" she said.

"Yes, Miss Ikari." A voice coming from one of the guards responded. "Can we get inside?"

"Yes." In an orderly fashion, scientists, guards, assistant and even the janitors without the proper clearance in the AEC's deepest secrets arrived to receive the news.

"So… why are here?" Kyoko asked. "Did something bad happen?"

"Yes," said Yui. "we'd been attacked by mercenaries this evening."

She let the gasps of horror and/or surprise died down before continuing.

"The samples I collected yesterday were robbed by men of unknown affiliation, but with enough firepower to overwhelm our security. As such, my superiors had decreed that for your own security you must leave Fuyuki this night."

More gasps and complains arrived.

"However," she continued. "if anyone desires to stay here and keep working in this department as volunteers, you are free to do so. You will be allowed a bigger pay and bigger security clearance in our investigations, _but_ it also means the risk to run in a grave danger not many of you had experienced before."

"Do we have time to decide?" Kyoko asked.

"You have until 10:00 PM to call this number to communicate your decision, and it's obligatory for everyone in this room." Yui wrote the number in question. "For those who decide to leave, you will be reassigned to a new workplace under a pair of weeks. You are allowed to leave now."

* * *

If anyone had told Sola-Ui she would end penniless, homeless and only living thanks to the mercy of somebody who was way far beneath her in the magus society, no doubt Kayneth would had found a way to enhance his ego from the slapping she would had given to the fool who couldn't keep their mouth shut.

But Kayneth was dead, and she along with Lancer were now living in the residence of an old Canadian couple who Waver Velvet hypnotized into believing he was their grandson coming to visit them and that Rider was a friend he made in England.

"So, the lady here was the fiancée of your teacher?" asked Glen Mackenzie, the man of the house. "And he was found in bankrupt when you tried to get a room in the Hyatt?"

"Sadly, yes." Sola 'confirmed' the tale everyone agreed before arriving to Waver and Rider's refuge. "I knew he had some debts with some of his colleagues, but I wasn't prepared on how… troublesome they could be." The last part wasn't exactly a lie – in fact, a lot of the mystic codes Kayneth brought to Japan were borrowed from allies and 'friends' in the Clock Tower, most likely to show-off against the other Masters while Lancer was doing the hard work.

And now they were guarded by the police as 'evidence' for the investigation on the Serial Killer.

"Maybe is for the best, with the news of that maniac getting worse…" Martha Mackenzie, the old lady said on her part. "That said, where's he?"

"What most rich folks do when they get broke, claim that they are going to get help and then leg it from the city." Sola said. _'Sorry Diarmuid.' _She added in her mind, aware that Lancer did not like that even more false slanders to Kayneth were necessary to cover their true identities. "He did contact Waver to find me a place to stay for a few days… I hope to not be a bother to you."

"Oh dear… of course you and Alexei are allowed to stay as long you need." Right… It was clear Waver had little to none control on Rider, who couldn't be bothered to stay in astral form. "I'm glad that our grandson has some good friends back in England." Martha finished.

'Alexei' laughed like the best of them. "Oh, don't you worry, Mr. and Mrs. Mackenzie. I'll make sure neither Waver nor Sola be harmed by the loonies that are roaming this city." He then smacked Waver's back with his meaty hand, almost plummeting the poor lad to the floor.

"Well, if you don't mind, I'll go to my room." Sola-Ui decided to leave the living room and the noises caused by Rider's energetic laughing. Once inside, she dropped in her back to her bed, not caring at all it was of way lower quality than the Hyatt's. It was a bloody bed under a roof without sociopaths armed with a small country's budget trying to kill her… for now at least, and she pretty much lost her right to complain the moment Rider poked her forehead with his finger.

"It still hurts?" Lancer manifested inside the room. As much Sola wanted to have him around in corporeal form as long as possible, Waver himself pointed out that Diarmuid's Love Spot would create some unnecessary complications in the house. Sola almost belched at the mental image of a group of lovestruck grannies pursuing Lancer.

"Not as much before..." she said as she rubbed her forehead. "…but I think we need to… clear some issues before continuing…"

"Like when we will betray Rider's Master?" Lancer said with a bit of venom.

"Look, Diarmuid," Sola-Ui dreaded this moment. "we agreed that once the other Servants were gone, if Rider couldn't find a way to convince the Grail to accept both of you, then it would be decided in a duel with him forfeiting the use his Reality Marble." But she knew it wasn't what was bothering her Servant.

"Why? Why did you betray Lord Kayneth then?"

Sola-Ui made a hard breath and gave her answer…

* * *

Uryuu Ryuunosuke, unemployed freeter of profession, proud bearer of the 'Demon of Fuyuki' moniker due to his amoral hobbies and Master of Caster, was placing his new furniture – read: the still living bodies of his most recent victims with Caster's magic – when he felt his new best friend arriving… in a really foul mood.

"Hello, Mr. Bluebeard." Ryuunosuke chirped. "How went your reunion with the Lady of Orl- Damn… who did that to your face?"

Caster – along with some of his Horrors who were carrying machinery and vessels full of some orange liquid – had a nasty bullet wound in his right check, which was in middle of being healed. He ignored his Master's curious look and gazed upon a group of the flesh chairs around, then he proceeded to stomp them into paste in anger, giving the poor souls the peace of death at least.

"Some cursed dog from a group of third-grade alchemists kidnapped the fair Jeanne the last night," Caster started to rant. "so, I assaulted their stronghold to free her from both them and God. Not only she's cursed with amnesia, but when I was finally revealing her the truth, Longinus of all people arrives and turns my familiars into goo!"

"Like the orange thing your other friends are carrying?" Ryuunosuke asked, which received a nod from Caster. "Geez… wasn't that guy the one who shanked Jesus?"

"YES! And now he's after the blood of poor Jeanne!" Caster lamented. "It is obvious that God intends to keep torturing her. Why else would He send the same man who killed his own so-called son in this Grail War?"

"So… what are we supposed to do with this machinery? I work in unloading stuff like that once on a while, but never bothered in learning how they work."

"Oh, that?" Caster suddenly shifted into a jolly mood. "As I said before, these belonged to some alchemists, their incompetence aside, they granted me a marvelous idea for another art piece to afront God."

"Cool." Said Ryuunosuke as he sat in another moaning flesh-chair. "Do you need something for it?"

"You know the usual… oh and I'm sorry for destroying your chairs, you must have worked very hard in their making."

"No hard feelings, I can always make more..."

* * *

"Mama is late again…" muttered Shirase Soryu-Zepellin as he waited in the front door of the Homurahara Academy School Division. It's been a few months since they went to live in Fuyuki and his attempts to make sure no one would pick on him for being son of a _gaijin_ seemed to work so far… if only because nobody could be bothered to get close since the day he beaten the crap of the local bully for picking on the girls of the lower grades too much for his liking.

Mama's reaction was… confusing.

For one part, she was angry when the professor related the incident and promised him she would ensure this wouldn't happen again – but once they left the school, she gave him one her trademarked bear hugs and told him how proud she was of him standing up for others. That said, she did warn him to not make it obvious next time.

"Hey! What are you doing here, you dirty girl?"

Those memories came as he saw a group of bullies picking on a purple-haired girl of dark skin, wearing only a white dress. It obvious she was homeless.

"Are you deaf?! What are you doing here?!" one of the boys pushed the girl, and she clashed with the wall.

Nevertheless, Shirase himself wasn't exactly the type of child who wanted to get stuck in middle of a fight, but also, he wasn't the type of kid who enjoyed violence. But that girl would be in serious problems if he didn't act soon.

Now there two solutions to this dilemma, he could talk them out of bothering people anymore… but since he wasn't capable to convince Mama to get him his favorite manga, he knew diplomacy wasn't his forte. So, he opened his backpack and pulled out a slingshot.

"At the count of three, you wi-aaaaah!" the first rock hit square in the right cheek of the biggest boy

"Who's there!?" another boy got his answer with a hit in the nose.

"You little sissy! Can't you do anything else?" that 'anything' was a strike in the groin.

'_Oops.' _Although Mama said he may have the potential of becoming a nice pitcher, Shirase wasn't that trusting of his own aim – he was aiming at the gut.

Still, it served its purpose and the two remaining bullies grabbed their friends and wisely decided to run away from the girl.

Now it came the hard part, socializing.

"Ermm… you can come here." He timidly said.

The girl blinked, apparently just discovering the bullies were gone. She saw her savior hiding behind some bushes.

"Who are you? Are you from here?" she asked.

"Emmm, my name is Shirase and I've been living here since a few months… Are you waiting for your parents too?"

"My parents died…"

Well, that was a bit awkward.

"I don't even remember how I got here…" she continued. "my village is way smaller than this… and way warmer."

Shirase raised an eyebrow, wondering from where that girl could come from, but a car noise signaled the arrival he was waiting for.

"Son? Who's that girl you're talking?" Kyoko Soryu-Zepellin got out of her car – a simple orange Subaru Vivio Bistro – finding her son taking with a girl with purple hair.

"Are you his mother?" the girl asked, and Kyoko nodded. "I… I am… Falak… I'm sorry for bothering you."

"Bothering me? I'm just glad Shirase is finally making friends here, especially with a cute girl like you." Both children blushed of embarrassment.

"Mama!" complained Shirase. "We've just met!"

"H-h-h-h…" the poor girl was stuttering. "he's cute too…"

Before either of the Soryu could respond, a white blur brushed against Kyoko's Vivio, which activated its loud alarms.

"Soorrryyyyyy…" they heard a female Welsh voice getting away of them and this time, it was Kyoko's face the one turning red.

"Cover your ears." Shirase warned at Falak.

"Huh?"

"Just do it." And both children did so, sparing themselves of the barrage of profanities that was part of the long tradition of the women of the Soryu family.

* * *

"How… rude!" Irisviel was scandalized.

"I didn't expect the Grail could translate that large variety of German swear words." Saber muttered as she drove towards the Einzbern Castle.

* * *

"…And that would be kid number fifteen." Ryuunosuke put another brainwashed kid inside a van he got after killing its owners a few weeks ago. "And it's not even midnight, all thanks to you." He then kissed the bracelet Bluebeard made for him to make his hobby easier. He was getting ready to go back to the sewers when he felt somebody nearby.

"Excuse me," a teen voice spoke. "is that kid yours?"

The freeter turned around, only to see a brown-haired effeminate boy – slightly older the usual fare of his prey. Ryuunosuke already had experience when caught in the act, so he turned around with a smile.

"Yep, just making sure he gets to his bed." He said. "Kids shouldn't stay late."

"And the other fourteen ones?" the boy asked, his voice changing from curiosity to accusatory. "Nice tattoo you have in your hand, by the way." He added as he looked at the Command Seals.

"Well… aren't you the snooping one." Ryuunosuke smirked then lunged at the boy and grabbed his arm with his right hand, activating the spell from the bracelet, from which a small eldritch purple would bend its target to Ryuunosuke's will.

Except that the boy's eyes weren't turning empty like the children in the van. If anything, he seemed a bit amused about the bracelet, then he looked at the killer and sighed.

"Guess that I'm still a magnet for insane redheads." The boy said. "You're coming with me."

"Oooooh fu-" Ryuunosuke couldn't finish before the boy slapped his face hard enough to put him to sleep.

* * *

Lancer sighed as he went across the police station, they had to make sure the Mystic Codes wouldn't fall under the wrong hands, proving him once again that the Holy Grail War was not the honorable battle of legends where he hoped he could get his redemption for betraying the trust of Fionn mac Cumhail in the past.

Then again, when two of the other classes were named Assassin and Berserker, he should have expected some participants would do horrible actions for the sake of victory.

After making sure there was no bounded field inside nor outside, he sneaked inside in spirit form to search the stolen artifacts without been detected.

"I swear it! Some crazy lady almost run me over!" An angry German woman along with two kids was complaining to the receptionist.

"We know, Ms. Soryu." The tired middle-aged man responded. "There're already six reports of a battered car, we are looking into it."

"Oh no, this one was a shiny new Mercedes Benz, and it looked like the driver was a blondie…" the woman kept ranting at the visible embarrassment from both the redhead boy and the purple-haired girl. Lancer decided to leave them be.

Just in case, he went room by room, looking for anything that may be a potential risk and report it back to Lady Sophia-Ri, who then would inform Rider, who then would figure out a plan to get rid of those risks, hopefully without giving their position to Assassin – who no doubt must be around as an onlooker at least.

He then felt an unusual presence similar to Lord El-Melloi's and it was inside of the room with a text saying 'Evidence'.

"What are the chances…" Lancer muttered as he went inside.

* * *

"Are you sure none of those super-ghosts are going to raid this station?" Chief Police Arai Kanaye asked Tohsaka Tokiomi. "You said every single one of these magical things costs a fortune by each one."

"The only one capable of pass unseen is under my command and even the Master of Berserker isn't mad enough to break the rule of Mystery in these days." The Second Owner of the leylines of Fuyuki assured the policeman.

"You said four of your five human enemies were identified already, but what about the fifth one?"

"The men of the Church are into it." Said Tohsaka. "Unlike the Demon of Fuyuki, if you find them there will be no chances of your men surviving the encounter."

"Speaking of that psycho," said Arai. "it was goddamned convenient that the media blamed him for your little duel above the Grand Hyatt – but it will not take much time before my boys discover the lack of relations between that and his usual M.O."

"Some of the Church's agents are into it too, so you don't ne-aargh!" Tohsaka felt a sharp pain in his right hand. His command seals were burning with a shiny red light.

"Is one of yours?" fearfully asked Arai.

Tohsaka felt the presence leave the place as soon as they looked around.

"No…" he muttered.

"Tell me where you want those, because I will get rid of those before midnight."

Tohsaka made a small smirk. It was clear the El-Melloi alliance was getting desperate.

"I will contact Father Kotomine to talk with you. In the meantime, I will send some of my 'ghosts' to guard this place." Arai looked at Tohsaka with incredulity. "Oh, don't worry, with this new chance my enemies gave me, tonight you will have two less mages to worry about…"

* * *

"…Indeed… there are children inside this van… it was a red-headed guy with purple clothes heading to the restaurants nearby… sorry, I need to go. Good night." Berserker hung the phone where he made his anonymous tip about the Demon of Fuyuki, who just happens to be Caster's Master.

The nutjob in question was now under his grip after a dose of Kaworu's remote manipulation, with his clothes changed to something more fitting to a high-class bar – also found inside the van – alongside a par of books with further… proofs of his owner's pastime.

Since – after some fruitless experiments – Berserker found out he still couldn't make brainwashed people talk, he took one of the books to allow Caster's Master some communication by writing on it, while the other one was left inside the van, but – after a suggestion from Kariya – with some added writings with the intention of framing Tohsaka Tokiomi as an accomplice of the serial killer. Since his duel above the Hyatt was blamed on the redheaded psycho, why not give the police a reason to link them both?

Berserker looked at his current puppet's clock, it was almost 9 PM and with the dark sky above, soon the enemy Servants would be 'legally' free to seek each other in open battle. Just in case, he took away the magic bracelet from Ryuunosuke and destroyed it with his lance.

"Well then…" Berserker muttered again his plan. "…get inside, ask Chikaharu what I need, get out and leave this bastard at stabbing range of the closest Servant… yeah, I can pull this out."

* * *

"Alright boys, we finally have an ID on that psycho!" the mood of Chief Arai suddenly improved, the memory of the hostile Servant left in the back for now. "So you lot better make sure that son of a bitch is back here, alive or in a body bag!"

A dozen of police cars plus a van with SAT forces, left the station in haste. With the rest of the force attending other emergencies in the city, only a skeleton crew was left inside to protect it from potential hostiles.

A ring from the phone brought back Arai to reality and he answered it in person. "Police of Fuyuki."

"Chief Arai," the familiar voice of Kotomine Risei sounded from the other side. "the escort you requested will arrive in five minutes to retire the cargo."

"Understood." Arai hung up the phone and gave a breath of relief and allowed to grab a warm cup of coffee. His greatest worries would soon be dealt with.

"_**AAAAALALALALALALEIIIII!"**_ a thunderous crash trembled the station and the alarms flared everywhere.

"You GOT to be kidding me!" he shouted as he spat the coffee all over the floor.

* * *

The bar Lilium was opening another session and as any self-respecting high-quality place of entertainment, it had a well-build bouncer to ensure every costumer was rich, well-dressed, and sober enough to earn the right to enter the bar. And just because it was Wednesday, it did not mean they would spare measures on ensuring who was worthy to enter.

'_I hope he doesn't mind a well-dressed fleeter joining his clients today.'_ Berserker was waiting in a bus stop while seeing through Uryuu's eyes, as the latter was along the row. _'Who's also a mass murderer… then again, who am I to talk?'_

In Berserker's defense, a lot of his human victims did come back from the dead. The Nephilim didn't count, of course.

When Ryuunosuke's turn arrived, the bouncer wasn't exactly impressed, but the former did meet the requirement to let him enter without much fuzz.

The place was nice, the music was alright and there were some attractive people around to talk, but Berserker went straight to the bartender – a balding man with a ponytail, who didn't take too much time to notice him.

"Hey buddy, need something?" Chikaharu asked.

The brainwashed killer simply wrote in the book: 'Are you Chikaharu?'

"Yes."

'I need information about the Einzbern family.'

"Cat got your tongue?"

'The Tohsakas almost did.'

"Oh…" Chikaharu gulped. "And you still want to pursue them?

'It's for a friend, I owe him for giving me a second chance in life.'

"You should know that these guys… have friends in high places."

'Nothing I did not face before.'

Chikaharu sighed.

"Fine, but it will cost you the double than usual." He said. "Special Fee for messing with people who can kill you in the blink on an eye."

"Oi Chikaharu! Put on the news!" a costumer shouted from outside, which the bartender did.

"…two confirmed deaths in the raid against in the Fuyuki Police Station, where a team of at least three masked individuals robbed critical evidence and weapons, who now are using a stolen SAT truck as getaway vehicle. Chief Arai refused to make any more commentaries…" The TV droned on. Chikaharu then made a look at Ryuunosuke.

"Does that have anything to do with your mission?"

The freeter simply wrote: 'Nope.'

"Double and half the cost, just in case."

* * *

Gilgamesh hummed as he walked through the streets. After that cursed Rider escaped, he was too angry to bother explaining Lancer's 'innocence' as an accomplice of the unknown puppeteer. After calming down, he realized it would be more amusing to let Tokiomi figure it out on his own.

As he was deciding to head back to the church where the Kotomines were residing, he felt an odd presence that he immediately identified as another so called 'Master'. A red-haired man was walking in his direction, holding a revolver in his right hand.

Gilgamesh began to chuckle.

"Am I such obvious target for petty thieving, or you are here for something else?" the stranger responded by opening fire.

Archer dodged the bullets. His body would not be sullied by such pitiful weapons.

"Tch. It seems you have a deathwish." The Master then grabbed the revolver and charged at Archer, who swiftly jumped at the nearest lamppost. "And imbecile enough to believe that we could fight as equals." He then opened the Gates and aimed them at the fool below as the floor began to rumble. "The price of idiocy before me is death."

Then, as he fired his treasures, they were blocked by debris ascending from below.

"RYUUNOOOSSUUKEEEEEEEEEEE!" a howling cry was followed by dozens of abominations of flesh putting themselves between the Master and the blades, blocking the latter from harming the former. Caster himself appeared from a sewer hole.

"You dare to interfere the Law of the King?!" Archer fumed in frustration.

"You dare to execute this innocent man?!" Caster shouted back in defiance.

"Mister Bluebeard? Aaauuuuuh… What's going on?" Ryuunosuke was freed from the spell, at the cost of a headache.

"Innocent? It's obvious that foolish human is guilty of the crime of summoning a wretched being like yourself. Your mere existence is an afront to what little beauty Mankind has left."

"Mankind? Having beauty?" Caster brought his book to summon his Horrors. "Perhaps all that gold has blinded you on the worthlessness of this species – but don't worry Archer, I'm more than happy to show you a taste of the truth!"

The monsters charged at the lamppost Archer was standing, but the King of Heroes responded with firing more blades at them, stabbing the abominations.

"Don't you have anything better to show off, mongrel?" Archer growled as he finished off the last of the Horrors.

Caster grinned.

"I will in a few days, until then enjoy THIS!" the Servant of the Spell brought forth a new pair of Horrors with longer tentacles than usual, which were used to strike at Archer – yet the King of Heroes didn't leave. He simply put out a blade out of the Gates and with an arc he cuts the appendages, making sure no drop of its foul blood would touch him.

"Ehhh… Mister Bluebeard?" asked Ryuunosuke.

"Yes, Ryuunosuke?" Caster's grin dropped.

"I think we should run." And run they did, the murderous pair running for dear life as Archer fired at them.

* * *

"You seem assured this will work." Sola-Ui asked for the seventh time.

"I didn't conquer all the known world for not being sure of my capabilities." Rider was drinking a bottle of wine he grabbed from a store. They were above a building that were dozens of squares away of an abandoned warehouse where they dropped the Mystic Codes that would not help them – which were half of them, to the dismay of both magi.

"Rider… I understand the need to getting back those Mystic Codes," Waver was cursing again his past decisions. "but why in the Root you told us to steal the… other _thing_ too?!"

"You know it can't hurt them, right?" added Lancer.

"That's true!" Waver continued. "The only thing it would serve would be destroying the artifacts and… ohhhh." The young magus' face was lifted with sudden enlightenment.

"Now you're understanding it, boy." Rider grinned.

"What?" Sola-Ui instead was confused. "Lancer, do you have any idea what they are babbling about?"

The Servant of the Lance was pensive.

"…their immunity will be their perdition." He muttered, then he smiled at Rider. "This is indeed a brilliant idea, King of Conquerors. I can see Fionn himself pull this stunt with the resources of this era."

Rider laughed as Sola looked in disbelief. Before she could ask, Lancer gave her the answer trough the mental link. Her eyes widened in realization.

"That's so dumb… yet so effective… are you sure Assassin will fall in this trap?"

"The Church needs to keep their lie of neutrality and Lancer himself confirmed only the higher command of the police is aware of the War, so is either them or Archer – and I don't think Goldie is the kind of person who would go as a glorified package boy." Rider said. "Now let us prepare! We must make sure this treachery does not go unpunished!"

* * *

"Hold still, you mutts!" Archer was still firing at the pair as he jumped from lamppost to lamppost. He was getting really tired of this nonsense.

"I would if it was your mom inste-aha!" the next blade almost landed between Ryuunosuke's buttocks, which were spared thanks to the sacrifice of another of Caster's Horrors.

"Stop insulting the homicidal Heroic Spirit!" chided Caster, only to get hit by the remains of a cane in the cheek. "Agh! Same cheek again!"

"Don't you have a teleporting spell in that book?"

"Well… yeah, but I kind of forgot which page was. Look! An exit!"

They saw an open sewer hole where they could scurry away, but suddenly it was covered by dozens of blades.

"Oh, come on!" Ryuunosuke complained at his rotten luck.

"End of the line, mongrels." Gilgamesh declared, opening twenty Gates, and aiming them at the murderous duo.

Caster was still searching for the teleportation spell in his book, the stress of being under constant barrage made him fumble in his search. But then, the Demon of Fuyuki remembered something he heard before getting involved in this mess and looked at his right hand.

'_Nice tattoo you have in your hand, by the way.'_

"Sorry Mr. Bluebeard, but by the power of this weird magic tattoo, I order you to find that page and get us out before he kills us!" The Command Seals shined brightly, and the Prayer Book of the Sunken Spiral City moved its pages rapidly until it stopped in the correct spell.

"Oh no, you don't!" Archer growled and fired the weapons just as the teleportation spell started to be casted. The Noble Phantasms hit the floor at such force that the street thundered, and the windows of the buildings nearby were shattered. Yet once the dust dispersed, instead of a pair of impaled bodies there was only a crater in the road.

The King of Heroes' scream pierced the Heavens.

* * *

'_Caster and his Master are still alive,'_ Berserker communicated at Kariya about the failure of his mission. _'I knew I should have made him try to stab Archer instead.'_

'_Don't put yourself down, Berserker.' _Kariya responded. _'It was Archer's fault that he underestimated how cunning those psychos could be.'_

'_But now those nutjobs will be wary of every single teenager in the city, Hell, they might use it as an excuse to hunt them down.'_

'_We will worry about that tomorrow; besides, you did get the papers."_

Berserker gripped the file Chikaharu gave him about the Einzberns.

'_Also, while Caster is still alive, he will want to stay low for the night after the scare you and Archer gave him, but it's not the best part yet." _Kariya continued.

'_What that would be?'_ Berserker raised his eyebrow.

'_I think this engagement gave us the firsts steps in figuring out how to defeat Archer…'_

* * *

"Here they are." Waver warned as his pigeon familiar noticed a small group of Assassins arriving at the abandoned warehouse.

"Well then; everyone, get inside!" Rider summoned the Gordian Wheel, which then was filled by the group. "Well boy," Rider grinned and gave Waver an artifact with a button in the center. "will you grant us the honors?"

Waver Velvet gulped but pressed the button.

* * *

"Holy shit… I can't believe it worked…" Ryuunosuke allowed himself to drop into the floor of the sewers where the spell moved them. One part of tattoo he got since meeting Caster started to dissipate, signaling the use of the first of his three Command Seals.

"One more second and we would had ended as Scottish meat…" Caster was also lying down as he is recovering his breath. "Did I tell you the one-time Jeanne managed to scare those boisterous savages with her words alone?"

"As fun that might sound," Ryuunosuke said. "I think we should stay low for a few days… can't believe it was a teen who kicked my ass back there… probably stole the magic bracelet too."

Before Caster could ask for more, an explosion was heard above them. Ryuunosuke began to cry.

"And just when this was getting good…" the serial killer whined.

"We will have our revenge, you nameless brat!" Caster swore instead.

* * *

Assassin – well, the five bodies sent to retrieve the stolen relics from the late Lord El-Melloi – where frozen in the debris left by the explosion that occurred literally in their faces. Obviously, they were physically unharmed, yet the shock was clear despite their expressionless masks.

Did Tohsaka's contact got it wrong and Lord El-Melloi hired Emiya Kiritsugu instead of the Einzberns? Or this was the hand of that mysterious Balcony instead?

Then a thunder cracked above them, and they saw the true mastermind of this ploy.

"Hear me, participants of the Holy Grail War!" Rider's voice thundered across the destroyed warehouse. "I am Iskandar of Macedonia, the King of Conquerors and Rider of this War. As you can see, Assassin wanted to make us believe he was already out of this battle, leaving him free to do as they please."

One of Assassin's bodies gulped.

"Now, I do not feel shame for that ploy – in fact it's ingenious of their part and they would be welcome to my new army, but it's tainted by the fact their potential is being wasted," He gazed upon the group of Servants. "I know you're merely glorified errand boys for Tohsaka Tokiomi!"

"Well, he has a point…" one Assassin muttered.

"Now I will give you a choice; either your Master leaves the Church before midnight or we are going to tear it apart and take his Command Seals by ourselves!"

Assassin wisely decided to vanish away.

* * *

"Frigging Alexander the Great too?" Yui muttered as Beta-Five informed her. "At this rate I might need a drink sooner than later…"

* * *

"Well, that was unexpected." Maiya played again the video feed involving Rider's revelations.

"We should have seen it coming." Emiya Kiritsugu looked on. "The Tohsaka and the Kotomine families always kept a close relationship since the days of the Third Holy Grail War."

"And what we are going to do with Tohsaka's heir?"

"We keep her here." Kiritsugu declared. "We will give Tohsaka a pair of days to figure it out on his own and act."

"Why?"

"For one part, we still need Irisviel and Saber to plan our defenses and I still haven't recovered enough to be efficient in combat. For the other part, Tohsaka suffered a great blow to his strategies today thanks to Rider's meddling, which will make him easier to manipulate once he decides to attack."

"You know he will send Assassin to retrieve his daughter."

"If he does, he will find a dead body instead…"

* * *

**And done... I thought the whole issue with COVID-19 would grant me more to write, but almost everyday had to do something to ensure my house isn't hit too hard by both the quarentine and the incoming Winter... joy.**

**Please, read and review.**


	8. It's a Kind of Magic

**Just as a heads up, I uploaded this story at SpaceBattles.**

* * *

**Chapter Eight:**** It's a Kind of Magic.**

Officially, Einzbern Castle was never a part of Fuyuki's curiosities to the common folk, be they local or foreigner. As most magi Houses, the Einzbern kept an air of superiority that kept them apart from the rest of the rabble in the human race – especially since there weren't any true humans left among their members.

As such, the Castle surrounded itself by an enchanted forest in the limits of the city, guarded by bounded fields and souls of soldiers of old whose oaths at House Einzbern went beyond death – all to ensure nobody outside of the small circle of those Jubstacheit von Einzbern trusted could set foot in their fortress for the Heaven's Feel ritual.

Not that it stopped the occasional lost explorer set foot inside. Luckily for them, the homunculus maids were not as ruthless as Jubstacheit would've liked.

This time however, the drivers of the white Mercedes Benz 300 SL that passed across the road were exactly among those who were welcome for the sake of the Holy Grail War.

"Kerry! I'm home~!" Irisviel von Einzbern at long last arrived safe and sound.

Unaware of the full escalade of insanity this night of the Grail War showed so far, Saber and Irisviel finally arrived at the gates of the Einzbern Castle, where a raven-haired woman was waiting for them.

"Lady Einzbern, Saber." Maiya greeted them. "The maids have your rooms ready, but first, your husband wants to you and Saber inform us about what happened this day."

"Thank you Maiya," replied Irisviel. "I'm just worried for Kiritsugu."

"I want to apologize in advance for my failure in the actions last night. If I haven't underestimated my foe, the woes of this day may have been avoided." The Servant declared.

"We are also responsible for your capture." Maiya intervened. "Me and Kiritsugu were supposed to watch over you, but we were ambushed by wraiths controlled by Lord El-Melloi. We lacked the appropriate weapons to face them and by the time we managed to drive them away, you were already gone."

"Well, what matters is that we are here now. Has something happened while we were away?"

"A lot, madam. Kiritsugu will fill you the details."

* * *

The debriefing with detailed and to the point, Kiritsugu and Maiya informed the clashes between Tohsaka and Rider, which ended with the latter exposing Assassin's survival plus Archer's pursuit of Caster.

For their part, Saber and Irisviel narrated the battle against Berserker, their kidnapping at the hands of the UN-AEC, their escape thanks to the intervention of Assassin and Caster and the pursuit with the police that followed after.

"Do you have any idea on who were our kidnappers?" Asked Saber.

"We have our suspicions, but nothing more concrete then simple theories." Responded Maiya.

"Since Assassin is the one who aided in your rescue, is safe to assume the Church is taking steps on the matter, leaving us free to concentrate in the War." Added Kiritsugu.

"Despite having an artificial Bounded Field and a Servant of their own, they didn't seem well-versed in the ways of magecraft." Irisiviel said.

"We will focus on that tomorrow. Maiya, give Saber a tour in the Castle so she can aid us in the incoming strategies." Kiritsugu ordered.

"Understood." Maiya responded and she along with Saber left the room, leaving Kiritsugu and Irisviel alone. Only then, the mask of the Magus Killer dropped as he hug tightly his wife.

"I was worried about you." A few tears adorned the face of the broken man who married the homunculus.

"Hey, don't worry." Irisviel said. "I'm here with you now."

"I was ready to do anything to get you back." Better men did worse for their loved ones.

"Well, I'm glad you didn't do something rash when was away."

A barely noticeable gulp passed through Kiritsugu's neck.

"Well… I did something rash when you were away…" He admitted, hoping that his wife won't get upset by the incoming news about the new 'tenant' in this castle...

* * *

Thursday, 20th March. The fourth day of the Holy Grail War.

Compared with the chaos that was yesterday, this day promised to be more peaceful – if only because everyone was wary of anyone else trying to one up Rider's stunt.

That was alright to Kariya, who along with Berserker spent the whole night reorganizing their intelligence about the other participants using both Rider's revelations and Chikaharu's dossier on the Einzbern – although the latter required a sequence of Berserker dropping it into the trash before astralizing, followed by Kariya limping his way to get it back in order to not break their security protocols.

If anything, Kariya's trust of the Church was shattered that night – the best case scenario was that the Overseer was grossly incompetent and couldn't be trusted beyond covering up the Servants' shenanigans to the public and as an occasional biased source of information, even less deal with the UN issue.

The latter where the main reason he was in the Fuyuki Central Library, while Berserker assumed the task of finding Rider's hideout.

"Are the magi aware that souls are scientifically proven to exist since the late 70's?" asked Kariya as he looked on a magazine about genetic engineering, the discipline that the UN-AEC was funded to investigate. "Wouldn't that be ruining this whole 'Mystery' thing Magecraft is built upon?"

'_I dunno,'_ responded Berserker trough the mental link as he consumed a snack. _'the Grail only put me the basics about it… and even then, I'm confused about some things, like, why they call one of the rarest Elements 'Average One'?'_

"From what I remember of Zouken's 'lessons', people were more capable of Magic BS in the past, at least until around the time King Solomon kicked the bucket. Probably back then it was _average_ that every mage could use the four elements plus whatever they decided it would be the fifth." It felt a bit odd that it was the Master the one who explained the magecraft of old to his Heroic Spirit.

Kariya was just glad he had someone to talk to in the first place.

'_I'm just thankful he's not one of the Servants among this competition.'_

"Thankfully the one we got is just a chump who compensates with extreme fanatism for Lovecraft, where are you anyway?"

'_The Hospital. I went to check on Sayuna, but she's still in a coma.'_

Kariya remembered her as the unlucky ex-maid they used to test the waters with Archer. "She's going to be a flaw in our plan just waiting to be exploited."

'_I'll not kill her.'_

"I know." Kariya said. "Changing the theme, got any updates there on the other fronts of the War?"

'_Well, the children Caster's Master kidnapped are waiting for their parents to arrive after the cops interrogated them and the wounded policemen in Rider's raid are tight lipped on what happened, no matter how hard the press tried to make them talk.' _Berserker couldn't help but feeling a bit guilty for facilitating Rider in hurting those men, despite Kariya assuring him of the benefits it brought them against Tohsaka.

"Pretty sure the Church either paid them a lot or just used a brainwashing spell to keep the War hidden."

'_Plus, I sensed a Servant around, most likely Assassin ready to stab anyone who may spill the beans.'_

"Rider should've killed the douchebags he exposed last night, but instead we have to deal with probably another ninety-eight mini-Servants sneaking around until someone murders the Overseer's son." His familiars noticed the man himself leaving the Holy Church almost ten minutes after Rider gave his demands and decided to pass the night in the Tohsaka Estate, pretty much giving up in bothering to hide their alliance anymore.

'_How's your investigation?'_

"I've already identified some Persons of Interest. Do you want to wait until I have some more or I just fire away?"

'…' Kariya felt some trepidation coming from his Servant. _'I think you better finish that list first.'_

"Alright, I'll call you back once it's done. Good luck with finding Rider's refuge." Kariya felt Berserker cutting the link. _'Whoever those bastards are, there's no doubt they'll play an important part in Berserker's legend – and since they have a Servant of their own, they probably want something from the Grail too. But what it would be?'_

If Berserker's memories plus what he said while narrating Saber's rescue were of any clue, nothing good apparently.

'_Would the UN-AEC be responsible for the future events that created the Nephilim and turned Berserker in… whatever the hell Zabaniya is supposed to be?' _Kariya had a feeling that it wasn't Berserker's True Name._ 'Then again, the old man did say that certain Servants adopted a more human appearance from what they looked in life upon summoning. If so, why Berserker looks like a kid? It seemed he didn't like that body either.'_ At this point, the idea of the Servant of Rage being an escaped test subject from a mad scientist wouldn't be farfetched. It would explain why he called himself the Third Child.

Kariya had to make an exhale, from which little drops of blood fell near the papers. He would resolve that later once Berserker and himself were done with their tasks.

'_If anything, they're going to pay for depriving me the free time I could had spent instead eating Berserker's nice cooking as we watched the other teams kill each other.'_

* * *

"Aren't you bored?" the voice from the King of Heroes interrupted the staring Kirei was doing in the garden of the Tohsaka Estate.

The Master of Assassin looked above him, finding the source of that question sitting atop the mansion, with a bottle of wine in his right hand. Even if Archer was wearing the same civilian clothes from when he fought Caster, the sheer irreverence of the situation caused Tokiomi's eyes twitch a little – which brought a shameful delight in the mood of the Executioner as his former teacher moved inside.

"Why do you think so, Archer?" he asked plainly at the Servant.

"Your eyes seem deader than usual." Archer took a sip from the bottle. "Did the events from last night put you in that mood?"

"We all can agree the events from last night shattered the strategy we had to fight the war," Kirei replied. "and to save the reputation of the Church, officially I am a renegade Master in all but name, forbidden to seek refuge again once Assassin dies for good."

"It doesn't seem to bother you much."

"I have been trained to not lose my mind in dire situations."

"Shame Tohsaka does not share your strength in that matter." Kirei glared at Gilgamesh. "He may look like this is a mere inconvenience, but the three empty wine bottles hidden below the desk speak louder than words."

"What do you suggest then, King of Heroes?" the Executor asked. "Lancer is still alive, plus this 'Balcony' enforcer has become a new thorn in our side."

"Simple," shrugged Gilgamesh. "Once I'm done with Caster, we'll make those mongrels kill each other. It should grant Tohsaka some break and give us some time for a little a proper chat." Kirei raised an eyebrow.

Then they felt something odd in the air, the bounded field they installed to replace the ones broken by the puppeteer alerted them of an incoming visitor – Archer only put his bottle away, yet Kirei could tell he was ready to open the Gates.

Anti-climactically, it was only a post truck that neither of the garden's occupant felt it was worth the hassle.

"Emm, is this the Tohsaka Estate?" asked a young man with a card in his hand who noticed the young Executioner, who nodded at the question. "Is the owner here?"

"Yes, but I will receive the letter in his place." Gilgamesh looked on as he went back to his bottle as Kirei made the necessary paperwork for the delivery. Once done, the Executor looked on the object in question.

It was a simple letter written by Tohsaka Aoi.

"I hope it brings interesting news." Gilgamesh said while Kirei went inside to deliver the letter to Tokiomi. After a pair of minutes, the King of Heroes felt a pair of Assassin's bodies emerging in the garden, who were met by Kirei.

"New orders, you must locate Berserker's Master as soon as possible and keep me informed of his current location – but do not harm him, if Tohsaka's suspicions are correct, he may be needed soon." Kirei told them their new mission, which was accepted with a pair of silent nods.

"I presume Tokiomi just suffered another setback." Smirked Gilgamesh.

"Not just any setback." Kirei responded, his eyes showing a small light. "Rin, the heir of House Tohsaka was kidnapped yesterday…"

* * *

"Aren't you supposed to go at school today?" Falak asked.

"Mama told me to not go today," Shirase responded. "she's worried about the madness of yesterday."

Both children were watching a rerun of Ultraman on TV – they were in the episode that introduced Mefilas, while Kyoko had already left for work. Before leaving, she assured them the police was already looking for any family members Falak may have left.

Kyoko did not day to them that she suspected they were all dead and that Falak was probably a survivor of the Demon of Fuyuki.

Nevertheless, the children were busy watching how Mefilas' attempts to convince Satura – a child, mind you – to give him Earth in exchange of anything he wanted, which was proceeded by Ultraman giving him a well-deserved beatdown until the hostile alien wisely ran away.

Shirase was already wanting for more, but then he looked at Falak, whose face was of deep in though. The boy dared not to interrupt whatever was passing through her head until she was ready.

"Shirase, would you offer the world for anything you wished?" sha asked.

"O-o-of course not…!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, it's not right… and my mama isn't the president, or prime minister."

"And what if Mefilas hit you until you complied?"

"What are you talking about, Falak?"

The girl gave a sigh.

"I'm sorry but watching this reminded me of something that happened in my village."

"Go on…"

"Unlike here, my home wasn't flowing with water and food, so everyone had to be strict on how much we could use."

"That place must have sucked."

"Hey, it's less noisy than here."

"Sorry."

"Anyways, one night a thief stole our food, but my big brother knew where he lived, so him, Dad and myself went there. He was an orphan of… I think it was fifteen years old. Dad caught him and asked him where our food was. He denied it. Then Dad offered some of it if he confessed the truth, but the boy refused to talk… so Dad ordered me to find the biggest stick I could carry and bring it to him."

Falka began to shudder in fear.

"When I brought to him, Dad asked us why was never caught until now and Big Brother responded it was because of his legs… and then Dad used the stick to break the thief's legs. Only when they started to look like horse meat, he confessed where he hid his ill-gotten goods."

Shirase rubbed his legs

"Dad then called the jailer, who let us have out food back with some extra as a reward and took the thief away. As we went back home, Big Brother said that Dad could make anyone talk with enough beatings, but Dad said that's not how it works."

"What he did say?"

"That everyone's minds have a weakness that anyone smart enough to find them can manipulate to do what you want them to do, and those of the latter group were the ones who held the fate of men. In that show, the bad guy's mistake was only using one particular method to break the boy and that's why he lost."

"…"

"Do you want to say something?"

"Well… I'm sure if Mama were here, she would look for your father to kick his butt."

"She would be too late for that. The thief's cousin got him a few weeks later, me and my brothers were on our own since then." Falak finished. "I hope they're safe."

"I'm sure they are fine. I heard someone rescued a bunch of kids yesterday, so we might now something soon in the news."

"When it will be?"

"Eh… midday I guess, do you want some manga in the meantime?"

* * *

"Are you saying that the reason of all those signatures from Type: Red to Blue in Fuyuki is because some nutcases found the way to resurrect people and give them super powers, then used them to fight a secret war in this very city for the Holy Grail itself?!" Kyoko did not expect how this day would go.

Once she had arrived at the new office, a guard asked her if she really wanted to get through this and there weren't second chances. Being a proud woman, she accepted the inherent challenge. Plus, she was getting more suspicious about Ikari. Her eagerness died when the new leader asked at the crowd if any of them watched Highlander.

"His words, not mine." Yui responded, her back facing the image of a surprisingly muscular Alexander the Great giving his speech in a flying chariot.

"And the stolen samples… are they the leftovers of one of those battles?" another woman asked.

"Yes, from an engagement where participated the Type: Cyan." The image changed back to the dark purple being covered in shadows, just before it proceeded to fight King (Queen?) Arthur (Artoria?).

"That… thing looks like a villain of a Tokusatsu show." A guard said, pointing at the greenish shafts in the entity's shoulders. "Does it have those things for intimidation or for hiding its weapons?"

"We don't know." Replied Yui.

"I have a question." Interjected Kyoko. "If that blonde woman _is_ King Arthur… then how can Mordred exist?"

"Was Guinevere a man then?" another woman interjected.

"I think Guinevere was a lesbian." a man added.

"Of course not, she bedded Lancelot."

"Lancelot never existed; he was a French rip-off of Diarmuid of the Love Spot."

"_**Enough!"**_ Yui gave a smack with a ruler at the wall behind her. "We could waste time discussing the confirmation of this unexpected canon of Arthurian legend and how it would change Human History as we know it, but it doesn't change the fact we are in middle of a – probably – high-stakes conflict that is happening between our noses."

"What do we know about that war?" the man who questioned Guinevere's sexuality timidly asked.

"Well, it's official name is 'Holy Grail War', its main competitors have surnames where they call each other, probably based in their main talent, to hide the fact most of them are well known legends, whose abilities are enhanced to be at a synchronization frequency of level Type: Yellow at minimum."

Yui then brought a board with annotations of what she found out so far.

"So far, we know about Berserker – the Type: Cyan, Saber – King Arthur, Rider – Alexander the Great, Caster – Gilles de Rais, Assassin – who apparently can clone himself and a sixth one besides Rider, whose identities are unknown. We are unaware if there're more of these resurrected warriors."

"And they are allowed to rampage Fuyuki at their own liking?"

"Not quite, in the assault we discovered every one of those lifeforms are known as 'Servants' and they have handlers known as 'Masters', who possess those 'Command Seals' Rider spoke of, whatever they are." Yui then put some photos bellow the pictures of the Servants.

"So far the only Master with a name is Irisviel von Einzbern," she aimed the ruler the photo below Saber's. "her synchronization in her encounter with Berserker was of Type: Sepia, probably a side-effect of assuming authority on Saber."

"And that sick hobo is the handler of the Type: Cyan lifeform?"

"Yes, however his synchronization was of a lower Type: Red and his name is unknown. The latter is the same as the other Masters."

"Can't we ask the cops for that?" someone else asked.

"We can't." Yui then brough another board, this one filled with another involved parties. "It's likely they are working together with the Catholic Church to cover up this war. We don't know exactly what the 'Holy Grail' is or what it does, but needless to say, we must walk carefully. I doubt anyone here wants to know how it feels being hit by a chariot."

"Can we wait until they kill each other?"

"Unfortunately, we can't. In the assault of yesterday Caster took away important machinery and the samples, so our first priority is to find him, kill him and interrogate his Master about the War. The good news is that we have someone who can face everything that madman can send us."

As if waiting for an unidentified signal, a silver armored figure walked to Yui's side. Kyoko noticed a dent in the helmet of the newcomer and that the piece on its right foot seemed being hastily repaired.

"Men and women of the Artificial Evolution Concern." The figure spoke. "I am Agent Beta-Five, I was sent to aid you in the containment of the current crisis in the city of Fuyuki." He then gave a bow to the crowd. "It is a pleasure to meet you."

'_Ah Scheisse.'_ Thought Kyoko. _'Our new boss just put us in a city-sized Kumite.'_

* * *

"We finally discovered the psycho's identity yesterday, and now you are telling me we can't pursue that son of a bitch?" Chief Arai was at the limit of his patience.

"Unfortunately, this 'Demon of Fuyuki' is indeed the last Master of this conflict and while technically he can be killed by mundane means," Kotomine Risei explained. "the presence of his Servant alone makes your forces completely unprepared to stand a chance against him."

"What about the kid who gave us the tip?"

"We can't be sure, but all hints indicate he's a magus agent identified as 'Balcony', who eliminated one of our Servants in his own."

"And he's a friend of the madman who crashed into _**my**_ station with a flying chariot, right?"

"Most likely." Risei then offered a bottle of wine to Arai, who gladly accepted. The timing between Balcony's anonymous tip against Caster's Master and Rider's raid was proof of a coordination worthy of the latter's legend.

"And even if he wasn't a super-ghost, what little old me can do against freaking Alexander the Great?" complained Arai. "Now my boys are howling for blood and if none of those scumbags are dealt with soon enough, the Police of Fuyuki might go for mine."

The conversation ended when Risei's cellphone sounded, which the Overseer answered.

"Kotomine here."

"We've received news from Tohsaka's contact in the Clock Tower… and things there seems to be going crazier than usual." The assistant from the Church communicated.

"Tell me."

"House El-Melloi discovered the death of Lord Kayneth and since he never had any children to keep the Archibald lineage alive before arriving at Fuyuki, the other families are already preparing to fight each other to be the next main lineage."

"And why's that important for us?"

"According to the contact, as we speak some of the families are sending enforcers at Fuyuki to 'secure their position', most likely to retrieve the El-Melloi Crest for their employers."

"What about Balcony?"

"We couldn't find anything about him, and everyone knows a Magi House of such pedigree like the El-Melloi wouldn't publicity associate with any Dead Apostle not named Zelretch. Our contact did secure a box filled with personal belongings of Lord El-Melloi that opened itself after his death, but so far he's mostly found scores of love poems dedicated at Lady Sophia-Ri."

Suddenly, an idea started to form in Risei's head. "Anything else?"

"That would be all."

"Tell your contact that he's doing God's work and to keep himself safe."

"Yes, Father. May God be with you."

"You too, child." Once Risei ended the call, he turned to Aida. "I want you to order a search warrant for Sola-Ui Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri as a suspect for the death of Kayneth Archibald El-Melloi, but you will order your men to not engage her and whoever finds her should communicate with you directly."

"Are you telling me to fight in the war you are supposed to overwatch?"

"No, I'm giving your men the chance to find retribution without directing them straight to their deaths. I also want you to not release the identity of the Demon of Fuyuki to the public."

"What? Why?!"

Risei looked at him with an expression that questioned his intellect.

"Right, Servants."

"While the deaths caused by Caster's Master were motived by petty amusement, he probably used a legitimate magecraft book as a guide that allowed him to become the last Master." Risei said. "Archer himself will engage Caster before this midnight, but if he fails, I'll convince the other Masters to make a ceasefire until the Servant of the Spell is no more."

"Do you think they will obey you?"

"They'll obey enough to not bother you for the rest of the War." Risei assured him.

A hard knock in the door of Arai's office. "Sir, we just found a new lead on the Demon of Fuyuki!"

"What it is then?" the Chief asked.

"According to a book we found alongside the children," the policeman narrated with excitement. "Tohsaka Tokiomi is his main accomplice and the murderer of Kayneth Archibald!"

Risei covered his aging face with the palms of his hands.

* * *

Kariya left the library, having written a complete list of names related to the Artificial Evolution Concern initiative, the scientists into Metaphysical Biology, and their backers – the latter being a shady group of philanthropists and biologists known as SEELE.

He'd heard that name a few times before while talking with colleagues specialized with sciences instead of wars like himself. They were a semi-known group among academic circles, whose actions normally were of granting resources to research related to investigation of human biology and scholarships to gifted students in scientist careers. However, Kariya's former coworkers spoke of them with disdain in their voice, due to rumors about their involvement in scandalous and/or unethical avenues of research meant to understand further human nature and the world.

And supposedly, the main reason they weren't in jail for supposed crimes that would make Josef Mengele puke in disgust was their man inside the UN, Keel Lorenz.

A German evolutionary biologist pushing his forties, Lorenz managed to become an important Chairman among the UN and the main driver of the foundation of UN-AEC initiative, which convinced Kariya to put his name on the list.

What little was known about his private life also raised the suspicions of Berserker's Master. He became the legal guardian of one Ikari Yui since the death of her father Ikari Hashidate under the hands of the now-retired assassin Emiya "the Magus" Kiritsugu. A quite share of articles involving on Yui since her adoption showed her a close bond with the German scientist, even an interview had her admitting that the teachings of Lorenz and the memory of her father were what convinced her to use her talents for the betterment of the world.

"It may be my paranoia speaking, but it sounds to me that the good councilman hired Emiya to blast that poor scientist to take his daughter as an heir," He thought aloud. _'and perhaps not even Berserker knows how that soap opera ended.'_ His mind added.

"Shouldn't you be worried about this current war instead?" a female voice spoke behind Kariya, who tend proceeded to tackle him to the ground.

"Assassin…" he hissed.

"No point in hiding anymore since Rider exposed us," the female Servant spoke to his ear. "perhaps you should pay attention where you walk next time, false heir of the Matou."

Kariya barely raised his head and just then he realized he was trapped in an alley where the closest street was at two hundred meters of distance. He also noticed a young man in Christian priest clothes approaching him, yet he couldn't help but to grin.

"You know I can summon Berserker here, Kotomine." He bluffed. "He's been itching for blood since the engagement with Saber and yours might help him in easing his thirst."

"Then you should know Assassin can quickly cut your neck before you can use your Command Seals." Kirei responded in a deadpan tone. "Luckily for you, your death is not required yet."

"Why?"

"Tohsaka Tokiomi requires your aid."

Kariya gaped for a moment, then he began to laugh his ass off with the occasional coughing fit.

"You should know it's related to Sakura's sister, Rin." Suddenly Kariya's laughter stopped. "She was kidnapped yesterday by an unknown party, although current investigations indicate the responsible is Emiya Kiritsugu."

"It's a joke, right?" Kariya coughed. "That guy's been retired for nine years."

"House Einzbern hired him to aid them in this Holy Grail War," Kirei responded. "and you should know whoever came up with the nickname 'Magus' probably wasn't aware on how right they were. In fact, the magi called him the Magus Killer." He then dropped a photo of the man himself, taken from a security camera from what it seemed to be a school.

Kariya's eyes widened at the revelation. "And that guy is fighting here? Then why he didn't shoot me while Berserker was fighting Saber?"

"Probably he was distracted by whoever kidnapped Saber and her Master." Assassin replied. "Are you aware on who might that be?"

"I was more preoccupied on making a good impression on you bastards." Kariya replied. Kotomine sensed no lie in those words, yet he grabbed the list Kariya dropped.

"Then can you explain me why you were investigating on the matter of…" the executioner took a closer look. "…Metaphysical Biology instead of the War?"

"I knew Berserker kicking Saber's ass would convince the other Masters to leave me alone, except for you of course." He gritted his teeth. "And since Zouken was always a scrooge despite the generous rent and patents he receives, I've decided I could use the free time between spying the others and keeping Berserker appeased to get some extra funds for the War."

"And who would be the one benefiting to this knowledge?" Assassin asked.

"A friend with contacts with the BBC and the Discovery Channel. Outside of one of Emiya's last antics, nothing there is related to magecraft at all."

"And what that may be?" Kirei's eyes gained a little light that Kariya barely noticed.

"The murder of a scientist named Ikari Hashidate." Kariya replied. "My employer believes Emiya was hired by an old friend of the victim called Keel Lorenz."

"I see…" said Kotomine, then he threw the list at the floor. "Assassin, release him." The Servant obeyed, yet Kariya did not get up.

"What about Rin?" he asked as he recovered his breath.

"Send one of your familiars to the Tohsaka Estate at 8:00 PM to receive further instructions." Replied Assassin. "We know about your antipathy with Tohsaka and we would rather avoid having the Mansion thrashed by a fight between Berserker and Archer. Lancer has done more than enough damage there with the brainwashed maid."

"Tell Tohsaka I'll do what I can…" replied Kariya. "…_only_ because of Rin. Once she's safe, we are back to the War."

"I'll tell him so." Kirei and Assassin began to walk away. "I must say, you're fortunate that your Berserker is more behaved than his predecessors in the past Grail Wars, but I hope this experience helped you in remember your vulnerability. The Romans generals of old often hired people that reminded them of theirs, it's a shame Berserker can't fulfill that purpose."

Once the pair left, Kariya grabbed the list with his good hand and managed to get up by pushing himself to a nearby wall for support. The worms were agitating inside his body, sharing their host's anger. Kariya looked at the direction Kirei and Assassin left, dark though of vengeance forming in his mind.

* * *

"You enjoyed this." Assassin spoke.

"What do you mean?" Kirei asked.

"Torturing that amateur, that and finding new things related to Emiya." It wasn't an accusation, just a statement from the Servant of the Mask.

"I've been warned of Matou Kariya's stubbornness and this act was necessary to break him and make him see reason."

"He was on board the moment you mentioned Tohsaka's heir." Assassin noted. "If anything, I feel you gave him a reason to find a way to get Tohsaka and/or yourself killed in the imminent rescue."

"Are you worried of what that he can do?"

"Playing with chaos is always a high-risk gamble, and since Matou does have control over his Servant unlike Tohsaka, we might need some extreme countermeasures to avoid another blunder like yesterday."

"We will plan ahead once we learn more about the Einzbern stronghold." Kirei stopped his walk. "Besides, as a man of God, I do not debase myself with sinful thoughts like petty joy." He then resumed his walk, unaware of Assassin was no longer following him.

"…Sinful?" the perplexed Servant of the Mask repeated aloud.

* * *

"Is that all?" the doctor asked to the foreigner.

"Aye, that would be everything." The foreigner gave the doctor a stash of American dollars and left the morgue. Then he went to a phone booth and made his call.

"Is true. Whoever whacked Lord Kayneth also stole his Magic Crest."

"…"

"Well, of course I don't know where it is."

"…"

"Even so, we can't just barge in, the Church is keeping an eye and they'd told us before we shouldn't be mucking around until the War is over."

"…"

"And yet you gits will keep trying… I'm out, you paid me only to confirm the issue of the Crest."

"…"

"Fine, I'll ask the details in the Shinto Church, but don't expect them to bring you back the Crest just yet, if at all. Anything else?"

"…"

"If you ask me, you should look for Lady Sophia-Ri and/or the wanker who stole the original catalyst. Neither of them would miss a chance to earn the favor and forgiveness of whatever family becomes the next head of the El-Melloi clan…"

* * *

Meanwhile in the Mackenzie house, Waver Velvet was preparing the last steps of a plan to find a possible lead in the position of the Master of either Berserker or Caster, Sola-Ui was recruiting more local spirits as familiars and Lancer keeping watch for any possible enemies around. All while Rider was busy watching war documentaries.

"Why he's watching those movies?" Sola-Ui asked to herself, frustrated at the failure of recruiting a mere Kodama a few minutes ago.

"Well, he wants to know how warfare has evolved since his era. Especially after it proved useful in exposing Assassin." Waver responded as he put the bottles in their place. "How are things going with Lancer?"

"He's not going to kill me, but he's still upset about me backstabbing Kayneth." Waver winced a bit at hearing that. "Oh, don't look at me like that. You know firsthand how awful he was, and you came here to prove him wrong about… if lower Houses can catch up with the upper ones, right?"

"I mean, yeah." Waver replied. "I went here to prove my worth as a mage and show him my thesis was correct despite his judgement through direct combat."

"Well, you are still alive. That means you're already better than him in survival matters."

"But it wasn't supposed to go this way. I had nothing to do with it."

"Life often doesn't go like anyone wants." Rider's voice said, catching the attention of both magi. "I never expected that the bastard of Pausanias would betray my father, and I hoped Aristoteles would approve of my actions in enhancing the Greek customs with the beauty of Persia, and part of the reason I went undefeated during my conquest is _because_ I expected things not going as planned and prepared ahead."

"But then again, it's the uncertainty of life what makes it interesting. If all of us were stuck with the scripts the gods gave us, there would be only existing for the next day until we dropped dead and not much else."

"I agree..." Said Sola without thinking,

"You summoned me because you rejected the script of the magi world and you are doing a really good job so far. But now we rest, tonight I want to check if Saber or Berserker are willing to join us too."

"Aren't you worried about Assassin?" asked Waver.

"Pff," Rider huffed. "they hunted Lancer because he was the only one who knew Assassin's secrets, but since now everyone knows about them, they must regroup before they can dare to strike back at us. Say, boy. What are you using those bottles for?"

* * *

"For a guy really loud, Rider is really good at hiding." Berserker informed Kariya back to their apartment. "I did see Lancer patrolling in the foreigners' district, so that's something." However, his Master was still fuming about the encounter with Kotomine and barely paid attention.

"-then I'm gonna shove Jesus Christ's cross up his ar-"

"Kariya!" Berserker shouted, cutting the trance of anger.

"What?!"

"Are your teeth enhanced with magic to harm Servants?"

"No…?"

"Then bite my arm until you cool off." The boy then offered the limb at Kariya. "It's okay, I did it when I was a mortal for a pair of years, and it hurt less than I expected it."

"What kind of madman you offered your arm to calm his tits off?"

"Madwoman… and of the German kind." Berserker responded, his mood becoming crestfallen. "I had it coming, and I miss her a lot."

"Alright, alright, I'm calm now…" Kariya interjected. "So… changing the theme, I've finished the list on the associates of the UN-AEC. We do that first or we go straight with Rin's kidnapping?"

"The list, we have some time before you have to send your worms to Tohsaka."

"Okay then… we will start with someone who's not an associate beyond the occasional mercenary work, but who Assassin claims is a direct participant of this war: Emiya Kiritsugu."

"Never heard of him." Berserker said. "I've meet an Emiya in my life, he was a good guy, but also a big asshat."

"Now to someone of the top, a UN councilman named Keel Lorenz."

"I heard of him a few times… I don't remember much aside that he was important in the UN. I think he died at the end of 2015."

"Right… does the local scientist playboy Katsuragi Keima ring any bells?"

Berserker's eyes widened, then he closed them as he articulated his response.

"If he's who I think he is, he died at September of the year 2000 at Antarctica." He spoke. "That incident would mark the start of my legend."

'_I don't like where this is going.'_ Kariya shuddered. "Now we have his underfunded predecessor, an old professor named Kozo Fuyutsuki."

Berserker growled, startling his Master.

"I remember that old bastard." Berserker rasped in anger. "He was the Sub-Commander of the military organization I was forced to work with, and the Number Two of my father, who was an absolute irredeemable asshole."

'_Guess we have that in common.'_ Thought Kariya. "And what's that guy's name?"

"…Ikari Gendo, but if his successor wasn't lying, in this time his last name is Rokubungi."

"And then who's the star pupil of Lorenz, True Name: Ikari Yui?"

"…" Berserker's anger started to be replaced with a deep sorrow.

"Did you know her?"

"She's… she's my mother."

A tense silence permeated the apartment, the weight of the revelations about Berserker's past threatening to cut the air in Kariya's lung, but he needed to press on.

"Berserker… will something horrible come to pass in the near future?"

"Have you heard the stories on how the dinosaurs died due to a great cataclysm?" Kariya nodded. "Something similar will happen in Antarctica during the year 2000 and it will kill Keita plus three billion of humans. In my era, we will call it the Second Impact."

* * *

**Yggdrasil:** The Tree of Life in Norse Mythology, it is said that its branches and roots are the holders of the Nine Worlds. It's also the name the magi of the Prague Association gave at the tree that holds the existence of multiple worlds and timelines, all united by humankind's progress and survival. The rest of the European magi know it as a fact – mainly by the existence of the Second Magic, however, the disagreements between the Wandering Sea and the Clock Tower on how stall the decay of Magic ensured that the possibility of mutual alimentation of information would be lost.

Besides, the Prague Association believes there's no point in trying with the incoming death of Yggdrasil, and they will stop at nothing to ensure their own survival against a human race that forsook evolution.

* * *

**I did want to have an Ultraman (despite knowing nothing about it) reference due to the fact Anno was going to work in Shin Ultraman after Rebuild 3.0 + 1.0, but once I found out about Mefilas I felt I _had _to write about it after the climax of EoE.**

**Plus, while writing this chapter, I discovered that Kaworu and Ryuunosuke share the same Japanese VA... so I guess I did a VA gag without being aware of it last chapter.**

**As always, please read and review.**


	9. (Int) The Garden of the Fallen Guardians

**I felt like writting this, first to give you an update in less of a month, and second because I liked this idea of the Post-Third Impact world in the original fic.**

* * *

**Interlude:**** The Garden of the Fallen Guardians.**

A helicopter flied from the Vladivostok Enclave closest to the Blue signal. Since the news of the arrival of the Nineteen Angel and his solitary crusade against the Nephilim, most Enclaves had agreed that it was a safe bet that the abominations that tortured the Fallen City months before the Rapture would make a comeback.

Yet to escape the Sea of Blood as a whole human meant you weren't a filthy coward, and the people of Vladivostok took pride in that among the fallen people, theirs were with the biggest amount of those who rejected the False Heaven compared with the other Enclaves, and no filthy Nephilim could take that joy away from them.

But an Angel could, so they had to eat their pride and seek help from the new hunters of the abominations that sought human extinction.

"WILLE? Are people still obsessed with random German words?" Colonel Belov grumbled as he read the file on the reinforcements he would get. He was one of the humans who lived trough both Impacts, and his graying short hair and beard were proofs that his time was coming soon.

"Who are the Germans, Sir?" Sergeant Sergeev asked. Being a young man who was born after the Third Impact, he wasn't aware of how things were before.

"The ancestors of the Rhine Enclaves."

"Oh."

"Colonel, we have birds nearby. It seems to be from our new 'friends'." Titov, the pilot, spoke

"Open a channel to then to confirm it."

"Yes sir." But before he did so, they received a call from the other helicopters.

"Omega-3 reporting." Spoke a voice that the Colonel recognized as Japanese. "Are you Osprey-1?"

"Yes Omega-3, this is Osprey-1, are you from WILLE?"

"Affirmative, are you the only ones Vladivostok sent?"

"We are the scouts; the rest will arrive if you guys think you can't handle it."

"We might need them soon; we are receiving two Blue signals around Area 4-2."

"Isn't that where Zabaniya's cottage is situated?" Sergeev asked.

"Yes, it is." Then Belov solicited the pilot of transfer the call to him, which he did. "Omega-3, this is Colonel Belov. I assume you guys are aware of the Nineteen Angel and how many Nephilim he has killed for getting there?"

"Of course, but we doubt Zabaniya is capable take on that kin of his." "Tell me colonel, we heard some rumors that he fought a human."

"Nah, what happened is that he got a freak-out when he met a redhaired mercenary we have been employing since a few weeks. The next day the Angel actually went to the limit of the nearest Enclave's AT-Field to ask him for forgiveness."

"Aren't you worried he may turn against you should the Nephilim being dealt with for good?"

"That would imply you guys finally found out a way make sure those freaks stay in the Sea of Blood for good."

Before the discussion could get any further, a great shockwave was felt, followed by the loudest explosion the soldiers from Vladivostok had heard.

"Sir, one of the blue pattern signals has disappeared!" Seergev announced.

"And no cross-shaped explosion, so it wasn't a suicide attack." Omega-3 added.

"In any case, I'm calling the reinforcements." Belov responded. Whatever Angel was the survivor, the area would need a serious cleanup in more ways than one.

* * *

"Here lies Clockiel, he never scored." Belov snarked as he saw the mess down the Koslov gorge, named after a General who took down an invading force with an unconventional use of a N2 bomb in the Impact Wars, leading to its formation.

"We are not naming the fallen Angel that." A figure appeared behind the Colonel. Belov turned around to see a man in red military clothes and a hat that reminded him of the commissars from the Soviet Union. "General Shimazu. I am the leader of the Second WILLE East Division."

"Colonel Belov. Representant of the Third Air Scouts" The older man responded. "If you ask me, if it wasn't for that lake of blood, I would have believed that thing was a robot." The defunct Angel looked less like a living being and more like a watchmaker's deranged nightmare come to life. Its 'head' was a pair of the now usual bird bone masks stuck with each other, a small red core forming its metallic neck, a body being two large arms and a now broken pendulum 'tail' from where blood and remains of its core were coming out.

"Angels never cared in comforting to our laws in physics." Said the foreigner General.

"Sir!" One of the WILLE soldiers shouted. "We found a human-sized but broken slingshot near the fall. It seems it was used recently."

"What in the world…?" Shimazu was confounded.

"Colonel!" One of the Vladivostok soldiers interrupted. "Something it's coming out from the Angel's head!"

Both leading men grabbed the binoculars to see in detail how something was trying to get out of the Angel's cranium, which would be soon enough as the cracks showed.

"Only a madman would try to despoil an Angel without the proper preparations." Said a disgusted Shimazu.

Then the cranium opened, from which left a human-sized figure with a dark but tainted by blood cloak and a bony bird mask of its own.

"That, or another Angel." Responded Belov. "Alright lads, let's give Zabaniya a proper welcome."

* * *

Zabaniya cursed again at the dead Angel. If having sudden traumas related to his time as a human (which were triggered only with _that_ archer, not any other redheads) wasn't enough, it seemed that his new 'kin' had some latecomers who kind of forgot that neither Adam nor Lilith were around anymore, so any further Impacts would be pointless for them.

_{So of course, he decides to freeze my cottage with his AT-Field until it breaks.}_ The Nineteen Angel kept hitting the skull with his foot. _{And by his babbling, I don't think he saw me as something beyond another competitor on who would be the new God of this planet. Hey, you fool, that race ended decades ago, and the prize wasn't worth spit.}_ Not everyone was like Nagisa, after all.

One last kick broke the cranium open, allowing Zabaniya to see the blinding light of the sun.

[I hope your meat last enough to let me rebuild the cottage and get me at least _one_ harvest without you retards ruining it again.] He then looked on and noticed the helicopters flying above him. None of them wore the Vladivostok colors nor symbols.

"Hey, Zabaniya!" a familiar voice shouted. "These guys are from WILLE, the new Anti-Angel agency."

[How is this good news for me?] replied the Guardian of Hell, holding the meat he took from his fallen foe.

"Don't worry. They know you're one of the good guys and only want some questions about the freakshow below you."

[Fine, Belov.] The Angel responded, not looking forward in seeing that old prick again. A trio of helicopters went down the gorge and landed next to the Angel's body. From one of the came out a team of scientists already preparing their equipment, then from the other two many armed men with blue with white uniforms began to set up the perimeter. Since seemly everybody was ignoring him, Zabaniya decided to put out a bag out of his cloak to put the Angel's organ in.

"Is that a Super Solenoid organ?" a WILLE scientist recoiled at the piece of meat.

[Want some?]

"No! I mean… not as food."

"Do you even know what it is?" Another scientist asked.

[The biological source of both the power and longevity of all the Angels, myself included. If not handled carefully, it may lead to an explosion that will trap everyone inside an enormous radius into a Dirac Sea until they die or somehow finds an exit.] Zabaniya responded. [I want to know if It goes well with vodka, red wine, or beer.]

"Normally, I would have to confiscate it for the good of mankind." A man in a red long-coat and a red military hat made his presence known. "But I'm not suicidal enough to antagonize an Angel without proper preparations."

[And I assume you're the boss of these guys.]

"General Shimazu." Responded the man. "I was supposed to terminate that big fellow behind you, but it is clear something else did."

[That something else is standing in front of you, General.] The Angel stated, ignoring the gasps of everyone else in the place.

"How?" Asked Shimazu. "Are you capable of growing to their size?"

[I'm not Ultraman.] Responded Zabaniya. [I grabbed an abandoned bomb nearby, then pursued that bastard until this very gorge, then I hastily made a giant slingshot to propel myself, then I used my spear to pierce the Angel's AT-Field, and then I activated the bomb in its tail and dropped myself here as it exploded.]

"…" Both Shmazu and Belov's eyes were wide open.

[I didn't expect its core being right there. I just wanted to make sure that bastard wouldn't freeze me to death like it did with my residence.]

'_Called it.'_ Smirked Belov to himself. In the years Zabaniya had been acting in this land, there were more news of exterminated marauding Nephilim hordes after one of them was stupid enough to target Zabaniya's cottage. It had become an unofficial vacation to his forces every time it happened.

"We saw the frozen trail that Angel left behind." Belov declared. "We can't blame you for wanting that SOB dead as soon as possible."

"Not any word of thanks?" asked Shimazu.

"Huh?" Belov didn't expect that.

"You see, I'm not sure if you are aware, Zabaniya." Shimazu looked at the Angel. "But this big fellow is actually the Twenty-Second Angel since Second Impact, counting you of course. The other two attacked the Albion and Barcelona Enclaves respectively in the last two weeks, and they were taken down at high cost of lives and equipment. In fact, our men in the Hispanic peninsula are currently helping with the evacuation of the latter Enclave."

"And while the Enclaves here claim being veterans of the War against the Nephilim, their odds looked grim until you arrived, Zabaniya." Shimazu added. "I don't think you're aware of much of an influence you can be."

[I only rescue people and hunt some hordes, nothing more.]

"What are yo-"

"Let me finish, Colonel." The General raised his palm. "Yet today, the Guardian of the Wastes of Hell went above and beyond the call of duty and destroyed an Angel despite lacking powers that would make him an equal to the Evangelions of old. And how the proud Vladivostok thanks him for saving countless lives of a type of enemy last seen in the last months before the Rapture? A fucking cottage, abandoned in the middle of the routes where the Nephilim tend to lurk, so they can get back to the hard drinking their ancestors were known for even before the Second Impact."

"Hey! We often reward him with seeds so he can get food of his own!" Belov responded.

"And do you think that's enough for your efforts, Zabaniya?"

A tense silence permeated the whole gorge. The scientists and soldiers stopped their duties and looked in anticipation.

[No.] Zabaniya responded. [But I'm not foolish enough to believe you bring this up to me because of your love for your fellow man. Why you want me to join your army?]

Shimazu smiled.

"All the information we have about the Angels of old and how to fight them comes from second hand sources, and as ridiculous as it sounds, you're the closest thing to a proper veteran of the War of Rapture we can have." The General spoke. "Some even say that you're the reincarnation of one of those who piloted those bionic mechas, specifically the mysterious pilot of the legendary Beast."

The Angel seemed stunned, as if the idea of himself being one of those fabled soldiers who slaughtered his kind was to silly to comprehend. Then he started to laugh.

It started with a light chuckle, then it ascended to a heartily laugh, and then it landed into a mad cackling. Belov couldn't help but to retreat slowly, step by step, keeping himself away from the Angel of the Wastes. Yet Shimazu wasn't fazed at all.

Then Zabaniya reduced the intensity of his laughs until they were no more. He then slowly pulled away his bird-faced bone mask while gazing upon the WILLE General. Many of the soldiers recoiled at his meaty brownish face, whose black hair folded in a large ponytail, human-looking blue eyes, and bare teeth exposed a rising anger.

[Do you guys want me, or the Third Child instead?] the Angel accused.

'_He knows about him?'_ thought Belov.

"Both, ideally."

[Then you are way too late. The Third is dead, buried in the cemetery of the Mifune Enclave along with the Second, and messing with their resting place is a big pet peeve of the Ryougi clan.]

Some of the humans surrounding him were disconcerted by the Angel's aggressivity. Many reports indicated that Zabaniya was of not many words, which were only spent to assure to any human who he had rescued he wasn't going to hurt them, and the occasional petition for news about the situation in the Enclaves.

Colonel Belov was hoping he was just feeling cranky about the ruined cottage.

"And you would know about that, Zabaniya?" Shimazu asked. "Last time I heard, most of the Enclaves didn't allow you to get inside due to the nature of their artificial AT-Fields clashing with your existence."

[The Third saved my life once and following his example, I saved the granddaughter of the Ryougi Matriarch.] Responded the Angel. [They never cared of what you are, only of what you have done.]

More helicopters arrived at the bottom of the Koslov gorge; they were more men from WILLE accompanied with a few birds from Vladivostok forces.

[Can you let me have a day to decide?]

"Where should we meet next?" The WILLE general said.

[The frozen farm. Either way, I'm leaving this land tomorrow.]

"I'll see you at 2:00 PM then." Shimazu saw Zabaniya jumping his way out of the gorge, then he looked at the horrified face of Colonel Belov. "You better pray he accepts my offer. That's the only option that allows the chances to him saving your bacon again."

* * *

The Russian Winter was always infamous to anyone seeking to tame those lands, and to its people it was one of the main reasons they were saved from the wrath of both Napoleon and the Nazis in the pre-Impact world. And while Zabaniya wasn't sure if the return of the cycle of four seasons was a consequence of the Third Impact or just the planet healing by its own will, even he conceded this cold was a bit too much for him.

_{At least I won't need a refrigerator for today.]_ He reflected as he cut a piece of the S2 organ and put in a fire to cook it before the cold was too much for it. He then grabbed a can of Yebisu he managed to rescue from the frozen cottage and poured a bit in the meat before drinking from it.

[Paajh! How could Misato ever like this crap?!] the former Pilot spat, then he drank the rest of it. [This thing couldn't even give a buzz in the past seven years.]

"Then why you keep consuming it?" a female voice spoke, making Zabaniya turn around to the source of the voice.

He saw a young female with a familiar blue hair, red eyes, albino skin and a light blue school uniform.

[Am I talking to Ayanami or Lilith?] he said.

"You know very well that they can not be here anymore."

[Then it's my own mind then.]

"You have not answered my question."

[Well, it is a good complementary for meat.]

The girl looked at him with a plain expression of disbelief.

[Alright, I miss them a lot. You, Misato, Kaworu, Toji, Kensuke, the Ryougis… and Asuka.]

"Then why you do not return to see those who are still alive?"

[And tell then that I'm a goddam Angel who can't reach the bare minimum to be called a Hero of Justice except in insults?]

"I do believe it runs deeper than that."

[Well, I've already told you that this mess is partially my fault, and since I am still the only one of those involved who left the Sea and wasn't lynched by the other survivors, I have to mitigate this mess the best I can.]

"You know that you were not lynched because the Second took monopoly on the administration of your punishment."

A giggle came from the former human. Unlike the one in the gorge, it was from genuine amusement.

[Yeah, that's true.]

For a moment, not even the cold winds could drop the odd warmth in the makeshift camp.

"How long have you been here?"

[…Three years, I guess.]

"And these years, there has been an advance in the crisis?"

[Beyond me saving convoys and the few last humans who escaped Instrumentality, not much.] Zabaniya said. [And with that Angel arriving, I know things will get worse again… Can you remind me how my old man died?]

"Unit-01 bit him in half," the girl responded. "and as you said before, he hasn't left the Sea of Blood yet."

[Sometimes I forget that he was a bigger coward than I… I can't see him either as a Pilot nor a hunter of Nephilim.]

"Yet each day you are starting to behave like him."

[What are you… haaaah, I know what you are talking about.]

"And that must be why you are considering joining then despite your bitter memories with NERV."

[As long they don't know that I'm the moron who pulled the trigger, I should be fine.]

"Do they even know?"

[…]

"I believe you should revise your food."

Zabaniya turned around and screamed as he noticed the S2 organ showing signs of getting over cooked.

* * *

The WILLE helicopter arrived at the agreed time, and from which General Shimazu fearlessly leap to face the Nineteen Angel, who was waiting for him with an old suitcase and the frozen S2 organ from yesterday.

"So?"

[I'll join your army under some conditions.] Zabaniya crossed his arms. [First, if you guys are indeed reviving these Evangelion mechas, don't put children as pilots, for fuck's sake.]

"That was one of the first things we've taken care of."

[Second, I want to be updated to any crisis, be they related to Nephilim, Angels, or another inter-Enclave war. I want to know what exactly we are messing with, no matter how ugly it may be.]

"You might find yourself overwhelmed on which you should intervene."

[And third, if I find out that any of you guys are using this crisis to create something like a Fourth Impact for any reason at all, anyone involved with them has officially lost any right to be called humans and I will treat them like the other monsters roaming this planet.]

The General's face remained still as stone.

"Anything else?"

[That I will discuss with your Commander.]

"Then welcome aboard, Guardian of the Wastes of Hell." Shimazu offered his hand, which after some deliberation, the Angel grabbed and shake it. "Let be this this is a new stage in your peculiar life."

[Or the first day of my last days.] Muttered Zabaniya.

* * *

**And done. Should I make these once on a while or just focus in the main story?**


	10. Dollhouse

**I didn't want to update this late, but more COVID-related issues (none is infected in my family, thankfully), the death of my cellphone and losing my ID card made this longer than I wanted to.**

**Enough ranting, let's go.**

* * *

**Chapter 9:**** Dollhouse.**

Tohsaka Tokiomi was not having a good day.

He was sitting in a cell like a petty criminal because Balcony framed him as an accomplice of the serial killer who happened to be Caster's Master, and now he was the prime suspect of the death of Lord El-Melloi – which he _was_ guilty – and despite Risei and Arai's best efforts, he had to stay for the night.

The Overseer assured him that by the next morning, they would have ready some new 'evidence' that would free him of the association with Uryuu Ryuunosuke and blame Lady Sophia-Ri for the death of her fiancée instead. But it did not help Tohsaka much, especially when he couldn't do anything while Rin was in the hands of the Magus Killer.

Emiya Kiritsugu was a dishonorable dog who forsook the work of his ancestors and instead he used their decades of knowledge to bloody his hands like few men in this era did and hunt down many important magi for the best bidder; by they from the richest noble to the most foul Dead Apostle.

It was fitting that the disgraced Einzberns would hire him to claim the Holy Grail. Old Man Acht has lived for way too long and also forsook the desire of his creators at creating the Heaven's Feel ritual, and would have been kicked out from it if it wasn't for his knowledge in building the Grail in the first place. If the German homunculus dared to rig his own summoning ritual in the Third War, hiring an infamous mercenary to fulfill his ambitions wasn't so surprising.

And if he doesn't act soon, the legacy of the Tohsaka would die before it could truly shine.

"Tohsaka Tokiomi?" a voice asked.

"Yes?" he looked at a young policeman with a fold of clothes.

"Wear this and get out." The man answered, giving the clothes. "Do not go to your Estate, since there are policemen guarding it. Master Kotomine already have a spare of clothes for yourself." Then the body started to twist itself.

Tokiomi looked with a little morbid amazement as the helper's body changed to be similar to himself, muscles and bone adapting to its new image, which was an almost perfect mirror of a naked Tohsaka Tokiomi.

"I'm going to need you clothes too." Assassin spoke with Tohsaka's own voice. The magus couldn't help but to feel a bit unnerved by the Servant of the Mask.

* * *

Kariya coughed again as he prepared his familiar to the encounter with Kotomine. Yet his mind was worried in other matters.

The reveal about the incoming Second Impact gave him a heavy weight that wasn't exactly needed in this current issue. Kariya couldn't help to think of the fact that even if he succeeded in saving Sakura, her newfound freedom would be cut short by an apocalyptic tragedy.

Berserker did assure him that his wish for the Grail was to cancel that cataclysm in the first place. "And I know enough of what happened there to avoid a potential Monkey's Paw incident." He added.

Still, from the memories he got after the duel with Saber, the redhead with the swords spoke of a Third Impact, that probably happened between the year 2000 and whatever time that memory was situated. Was Berserker involved in that cataclysm?

Another thing that bothered the Matou Master was Berserker's nationality. Zouken made it very clear that the Grail did not allow the summoning of Heroes from the East due to the 'home advantage' those Servants could get. The name 'Ikari Shinji' should had put him firmly in the list of the banned Heroic Spirits, yet Kariya got him instead of whatever psychopath was related to the piece of wood Zouken brought.

'_Either I exploited a loophole involving heroes from the future, or those Vladivostok guys never discovered that Zabaniya was Japanese.'_ Kariya thought. _'It's kinda funny that he shares his first name with Byakuya's son. Now _that _might've been awkward.'_ Still, he was surprised the wreck of his brother did became a father, yet he was an alcoholic mess that followed Zouken's every whim, no matter how much the old vampire exposed his contempt. _'Wouldn't be surprised if the old man ate her already.'_

Nevertheless, Kariya knew what mattered the most now was to rescue Rin, while ensuring that neither Tohsaka, Kotomine nor their Servants came out unscathed. A small voice was calling him out for risking Rin's life for the sake of vengeance, but Kariya was starting to think that Tokiomi might turn Rin into another heartless magus if he got his way. Plus, Kotomine was correct in that his Berserker was controllable. _'Technically, his will is mine only during Mad Enhancement. Outside of it, he's his own person.'_ Kariya laughed at the irony. _'Maybe he was a delinquent before getting conscripted by his old man? To them, obeying adults would be the height of insanity… Nah. He's too well-mannered for that.'_

'_But knowing Tokiomi, he pretty much wants Berserker to act as decoy and/or cannon fodder for Saber while Archer and Assassin tackle the Castle defenses and himself and Kotomine fight against Emiya and Einzbern.'_

"Then how the hell I'm going to play my part without exposing Berserker's quirk?" he complained at the air. Thankfully, he was inside the department, otherwise anyone could had heard him and exploit his loose lips.

'_Ideally, the attack should happen tomorrow.'_ Berserker had already left to the foreigner district after making a stop in Verde. _'But after what you told me about this Emiya; I can't exactly blame Tohsaka to want Rin back right now.'_ Kariya remembered he had to tell Berserker about his grandfather's death later.

"Which would be nice if he did the same thing to Sakura, but noooooooo… he had to give her to Zouken as a lab rat and force Aoi and Rin to forget she ever existed!"

'_Kariya? I don't want to play Devil's advocate, but before joining the War, did you ask Tohsaka or his wife if they knew how much it sucked to be the Matou's heir?'_

"Why?"

'_I say because since their families are supposed to kill each other every sixty years for the Grail, it would be very stupid of them to reveal most of their Mystery to the other party. Maybe Zouken never said that in House Matou 'my heir' is synonymous of 'my new host body' when he made that deal.'_

"They obviously know Zouken should've died eons ago, and since Tohsaka is also chummy with the Church due to being a legitimate Christian – somehow, he probably persuaded them to not send that bastard to Hell, or Akasha… Gah! I don't know!"

'…' Kariya felt some trepidation from Berserker._ 'I have Assassin's disguise and a few fake letters in my possession, and I'm following Lancer in case he leads me to Rider. But what I do next depends in what happens in the Tohsaka mansion. I'll wait for more news.'_

"Very well, Berserker." Responded Kariya. "Over and out."

* * *

'_Now I'm really hoping a Servant gets killed this night.' _Though Berserker as Kariya cut the mental link. _'Can't do much against Zouken until that happens.'_

The situation with the worms made it clear to Berserker that Kariya didn't have much time to live, but Berserker knew he needed the prana they provided to stand a chance against the powerhouses of Saber, Rider and Archer in case the plan to make them kill each other went wrong. In the meantime, he had to figure out a way to kill Zouken without risking the possibility of turning Fuyuki into a preview of the Third Impact.

'_That scumbag's body is an entire bug hive, but every hive has a Queen or something like that… that might be his weak point.'_

_Might_, not _is_ – and Berserker just couldn't risk both Kariya and Sakura (why did she have to share her first name with Toji's sister?) getting involved in the crossfire until he learnt more about the old vampire.

'_Which may be harder than it looks. If I were Zouken, I would hide my 'true' body inside Sakura to further blackmail Kariya into not backstab me and screw him over if he ends winning.'_ Berserker though. _'Gee, thanks Dad and Mom for giving me the talent to plan like a total sociopath, you assholes.'_

Speaking of them, once again his past found a way to catch him up in a moment where it wasn't welcome. Not only he had to eliminate five persons way worthier of being called Heroes than himself plus Caster and Zouken, now he also had to deal with the same scumbags who're smart enough to deal with the Angels and the Servants, but insane enough to follow his Father's Doomsday scenario.

'_I was happy despite never learning who they were. At least they were dead, in the Sea or powerless to make more harm than what he… we did.'_ Berserker thought. _'And since they know about the Grail, there might be someone who wants to skip Second Impact and go ahead with Instrumentality already.'_

Berserker breathed in order to calm himself. Despite his Class, he knew getting angry over it wouldn't solve anything. Perhaps the UN-AEC's situation was similar to NERV's, where only less of five persons at the top were aware of its true intentions. He and Kariya could investigate more do once Tohsaka's daughter is safe.

'_And if indeed those are the guys who drove me into causing the end of the world, then I'll be more than happy to give them in early exclusivity the death they seek...'_

* * *

Kirei was sitting in the fountain of the courtyard in the Tohsaka Estate, he checked the clock to see it was indeed 8:00 PM and just as he turned away, a flying bug appeared a few meters ahead of him.

'_Tohsaka was right in using the bond Matou has with the former's family.'_ Though the Executor. "You've arrived in time."

The insect made a buzzing sound, pretty much telling him to get over with it.

"At 8:40 PM, you will be waiting in Koushuuensaikan Taizan, a Chinese restaurant, to be retrieved by Assassin and we will travel to the outskirts of the Einzbern Castle. We will set up the last preparations, but most likely you will have to send Berserker to cause a distraction and fight Saber. Her death is not obligatory, but if your Servant can finish her off, do so once we've confirmed the rescue of Tohsaka Rin."

Another buzzing asked him for anything else.

"I'll have some of Assassin's bodies to watch over you and ensure you don't do anything to endanger the operation. If Tohsaka or I suffer mortal injuries, Assassin is allowed to execute you. Also, Archer will not be present with us. He was assigned to hunt down Caster due to the latter's violations of the rules of the Grail War." Kotomine was not going to tell the enemy about Tokiomi's issues in keeping Gilgamesh in line.

The familiar gave one last buzz of reluctant acknowledgment and left the Estate. Kirei didn't hide the smile in his face. Perhaps this night he finally could find his answers from the mouth of Emiya Kiritsugu and so, an escape of the void cursing his existence.

* * *

Berserker held the false letter he felt it was the most appropriate for the next step of their plan and wearing Assassin's clothes was simply begging for a swift death at the hands of Lancer, so he went with his normal clothing.

Of all the places Berserker could image Rider concur should he travel in the Pre-Impact world; a videogame store was definitely not high in the list. Watching someone Berserker was completely sure would have kicked his ass in a duel at the peak of their mortal lives geeking out about the latest RPG games was definitely not something he had expected. Something he seemly shared with the exasperated young boy next to the huge Heroic Spirit.

'_And that would be the Master of Rider.'_ The Third Child realized. Either the boy was way underage compared with everyone else, or his puberty was arriving way too late.

Due to being a Servant, Berserker could see Lancer around despite the latter being on spirit form, but also it meant when he got closer, the human foreigner's Command Seals slightly burned his hands as a warning of a hostile party.

As he heard the grunt of the young British Master Berserker froze in his tracks, realizing in horror that his peculiar condition wasn't able of fooling the Command Seals. Many grim thoughts came unbidden to his head, most of them involving Rider killing him with his bare hands.

"Hey boy." Berserker hear fingers snapping. "Are you looking for that game too?" the King of Conquerors grinned.

The poor boy could only make squeaky noises due the panic.

"Rid-I mean, Alexei!" Waver shouted. "Stop scaring that kid!"

"Shouldn't you two be at school?" asked the cashier.

"Huh?" Waver wasn't someone who had studied Japanese beforehand.

"He says that you should be at school now." Rider translated it for him.

"What?! I'm nineteen!" his Master shouted.

"He's old enough to drink." Rider spoke to the cashier. "And you kid?" he turned to Berserker.

'_That British boy is a Master and doesn't know Japanese, if I speak now it will sound English to him, exposing me as a Servant and then Rider will kill me…!'_ Berserker noticed the cashier leaving them to attend someone else. _'That's it! I just have to act like I'm speaking in really bad English. Alright, one, two, three!'_

"I… live… with my… teacher." Berserker spoke, ready to astralize should things go wrong.

Rider's chuckles covered the store again.

"I see you don't want to keep little Waver in the dark," the huge Servant said." But don't worry, I can translate for him."

"Teacher said… I should… train English."

"I see… Do you want to look at the games?"

"No thanks… I am looking… somebody."

"And who that may be?"

"Miss… Sophia-Ri… red hair woman." Waver widened his eyes and joined in.

"Did someone send you?" the young British Magus asked.

"Trench-coat man… gave me this…" Berserker pulled out a letter. "Said it was… imp-p-p-portant…"

"We're friends of her… I think." Waver received the letter. "Don't worry, we'll give it to her."

"Thank you." Berserker bowed in the usual Japanese way and left the store as fast as his panicked walking allowed him. _'It worked! Oh God! It worked!'_

Meanwhile in the store, Waver saw the contents of the letter, but it was written in kanji, so he didn't know what it said.

"Guess we need talk with Lancer and Sola about this." Said Rider behind him. Waver turned around and saw his Servant's face exposing a mild concern.

* * *

"Beta-Five." Yui's voice called in the helmet. "What's your status?"

"I am detecting Type: Sepia lifeforms moving below the street." He said as he looked on at the Mioh river.

"Then it is true. Our target hides in the sewers."

"What should I do if another Green or Yellow signature shows up?"

"See if they want to murder Caster; if they do, let them be and focus in recovering or destroying our gear and secure his Master. If not, don't be detected by them."

"Understood. Over and out." Beta-Five cut the call and traveled downwards to seek entrance in the sewers of the city. However, once he reached near the river's level, he felt a presence similar to Saber above him. Judging him.

Beta-Five heard a finger snap and noticed three large projectiles firing at his position. He immediately activated his AT-Field to stop them in their tracks, leaving him harmless after they exploded in contact.

"That orange barrier of yours, only someone truly foolish or inhuman can use their vessel as source of their power without killing themselves." A voice filled with arrogant curiosity was heard from above. "And here I though this era showed nothing but disappointment."

Beta-Five grabbed his guns and looked above, finding a golden-armored Type: Green man with some yellow liquid-looking portal shining above his shoulders, making him stand among the falling night.

"Tell me," the man said. "if there are supposed to be six pretenders that must dare to defy me to claim the Holy Grail, then who are you?"

"That does not concern you, resurrected warrior." The face of man in gold instantly was filled with disgust.

"Warrior?! Can't you cur even recognize your rightful King, who bothered to travel in this dump to cleanse it in my grace?!" he fumed. "Grant me a reason to spare your sorry carcass before I feed it to the crows!"

Beta-Five looked on in silence, receiving a call from Mother which told him what to do next. He then dropped his guns, which surprised the golden man, and followed suit by kneeling.

"Apologies, your majesty." Beta-Five said. "I was brought in this land without knowledge of its customs."

Gilgamesh was taken by surprise, but he wasn't going to relent so easily. "Without knowledge? Are you saying you were brought to this world without the basic knowledge from the Grail?"

"I was not… reborn with the means of this Grail you speak of." Replied Beta-Five. "In fact, I am clueless on what it is, beyond its name's origins in Christian Mythology."

"So you admit your ignorance, mongrel?"

"I am willing to learn, ancient King. My main purpose is to aid the salvation of Humankind from its current decadence, after all."

The King of Heroes thought the situation for a moment, his 'duty' as a Servant demanded that he killed that silver dog, but since he was the true King, he would judge this intruder's right to live.

"The reason the other mongrels are fighting for the Grail is because it will allow them a single wish for them and their summoner." Spoke Gilgamesh, opening the Gates once more. "Would you and your summoner use it to stop the degeneracy we both see?"

Yui spoke what would be their answer, but then Archer fired one of his blades near Beta-Five.

"I demand your_ own_ honest answer, not the script your Masters has put inside your head."

Gilgamesh could feel the loss passing through the intruder's being. Servant or not, seeing a successful user of a thaumatological theory that everyone saw as mere madness was almost worth the travel to this pitiful dump. But should he be found wanting, that would be another mistake the King of Heroes would've to fix.

"While I have my doubts on some of my superiors, I do not see any reason to obtain it at all." The silver warrior finally spoke.

"And why you wouldn't?"

"Should the Committee be found wanting, I trust Mother can achieve the Scenario of the Philosophers without it." Gilgamesh sensed an air of confidence in the kneeling warrior. Sighing, he snapped his fingers.

Beta-Five noticed more projectiles firing above him, then he heard them hitting flesh, followed by a corpse landing at his side. He recognized it as one of the Assassins.

"Rise, foreigner." Archer commanded, and Beta-Five did so. "Since you're not here for the Grail, what's the purpose of your presence?"

"My primary objective is the identification, proceeded by the containment or termination of the entity identified as Berserker, as my superiors believe he is one of the few entities who can disrupt the Scenario, due to his nature as a possible Aristoteles." Replied the silver warrior. "Currently, my assignment is the elimination of the resurrected madman identified as Caster, due to his attack against my current handler's headquarters."

"Your masters must have never seen a true Aristoteles to consider that mad dog an equal to them." Archer snickered. "Since we share the same goals tonight, I'll allow you to accompany me in making that cur pay for the insult he gave me."

"I am under your command…"

* * *

It was dark, humid, and cold in the Einzbern Forest, and Kotomine was already in his position, overlooking the Einzbern Castle.

"Why's Tohsaka taking so long?" Kariya complained behind him, despite having two of Assassin's bodies making sure he wouldn't try anything treacherous.

"He's been busy." Responded Kirei after checking on the Assassin sent to the police station. "Besides, he'll participate directly once the threat of the Magus Killer has been contained."

"That would be Assassin's work or yours?" asked the Master of Berserker, earning a glare from the Executor.

"Where's Berserker?" asked Kirei instead. "Assassin hasn't detected him inside the forest."

"Because he's outside the forest." Replied Kariya. "He will appear once everything is setup. Or do you want to give the Einzbern an early warning with his presence alone?"

"Do you want save Tohsaka Rin?"

"Of course I do!"

"Then keep quiet and obey." A third voice joined in. Kariya turned around and saw Tohsaka Tokiomi, making his presence known with grace and elegance, despite wearing the clothes of a mere policeman. "Kotomine, is everything ready?"

"We only need to send Berserker at the Castle's gates so we can begin." Responded the Executor as he passed a set of clothing more fitting of a magus.

Kariya grumbled to himself, wondering if Berserker's plan has worked. Even with his Servant accepting the possibility of having to activate his Mad Enhancement, the best case scenario was that Tohsaka and his cronies will have a better picture of Berserker's skills and tell Archer what Noble Phantasms would be the most appropriate to kill him.

"Assassin tells me of a presence travelling across the forest, tearing its defenses apart." Kotomine said.

"Is that Berserker?" asked Tohsaka.

"Rider and Lancer with their Masters." Responded Kirei.

Kariya barely managed to hide the smirk from his mangled face. "I'm sure sending Berserker now would be suicide." He said, not so secretly enjoying Tokiomi's annoyed grimace at being thwarted by Rider 'again', as they saw the Servant of the Mount destroying the entrance of the Einzbern Castle like it was nothing with his chariot.

* * *

"What are you doing here, Rider?" Saber was geared up with her armor and Excalibur in hand. She had been warned that an alliance between Archer, Assassin and perhaps Berserker would invade the castle today or tomorrow.

"Hello Saber. Want some drink?" the King of Conquerors hold proudly a barrel of wine he 'borrowed' from the local yakuza. That had brought some antics with their granddaughter of their leader, but it was nothing an application of Suggestion and Rider's Charisma couldn't solve.

"Aren't you here to fight?" asked Irisiviel

"No, just to talk." Responded Rider. "I had this letter directed to Lancer's current Master,"

"I have a name." Sola-Ui complained from the chariot.

"And we thought it would be a good excuse to sit down and known each other." Rider continued.

"Who sent that latter?" Saber asked.

"A kid with an awful grasp of English, he claimed a man with a trench-coat was the real sender." Spoke Lancer, who jumped out of the chariot with Gae Buidhe in hand. "Do you have anything to do with it, Saber?"

Saber and Irisviel looked at each other, already suspecting who it was.

"I'm not, Lancer, but I suspect an assistant of my Master acted on his own once again." Saber responded. "As for why, I suspect it has to do with a previous mistake he did."

"What happened?" Rider asked.

Saber told them about her kidnapping after the duel with Berserker and the subsequent 'rescue' at the hands of Assassin from them and Caster – without mentioning the UN-AEC. The King of Knights noticed Lancer's discomfort as she mentioned Assassin, before following with Kiritsugu's misguided retaliation by kidnapping Tohsaka's daughter.

"Are you planning to return her?" asked Lancer.

"Only after we're sure that Tohsaka will not act irrationally." Saber sighed. "If it was for me, she would be far away from Fuyuki right now."

"So, where's she?" Waver asked.

"I can't say, except she's safe as long as Assassin and Archer don't take a footstep there." Saber responded. "I wish things were different, but this Holy Grail War has more foul trickery than I expected." Of her entire court, she felt only Agravian would feel right at home.

"I share that sentimentality, Saber." Lancer said. Sola sunk inside the chariot in shame.

"Still, that would explain why Archer wasn't interested in tagging along." Rider commented.

"You what?!" asked Saber.

"I wanted to bring everyone along if possible, but apparently Caster did something yesterday to upset Goldie, so he's not coming."

"You definitely don't want to bring Caster here." Saber responded. "At least Berserker is kind enough to keep his thoughts to himself." She then gave a hard exhale. "I propose you a deal, from King to King."

"I'm listening." Said Rider, smiling widely.

"I'll allow you to use the backyard for your feast and I'll even join with Irisiviel in it, but should Archer, Assassin and/or Berserker attack tonight along with their Masters, you'll fight at my side." Proposed Saber. "Can I trust your word, King of Conquerors?"

* * *

"How this can be?" asked Tokiomi after Kirei reported the situation. "Do you know why this happened?"

"I sent Berserker with a letter to invite Rider to the Einzbern Castle." Kariya 'joked', earning a glare from Tohsaka, Kotomine and the pair of Assassins.

"Assassin, smack him." Kirei ordered and his Servant obeyed without question, then the former directed at Tohsaka. "Speaking of him, can I ask a question?"

"What it is?"

"Have you ever heard of a man named Keel Lorenz?"

"What?!" Exclamied Tohsaka, his eyes widening. "Where did you hear that name?"

Kotomine pointed at Kariya. "Matou claimed he hired Emiya in the past before the latter 'retired' with the Einzberns."

Tokiomi had to remind himself that instead of a magus, Kariya choose the path of journalism, so it was expected that he could stumble in that while doing his homework about the Holy Grail War.

"Kariya, have you ever heard about the Wandering Sea?"

"No."

"How about the Prague Association?"

"Are they Doomsday cultists?"

"**No.**" Tokiomi wouldn't stand with this ignorance. "The Wandering Sea is one of the Three Great Branches of the Mage's Association, the other two being the Clock Tower and the Atlas Institute. They are an association of European mages dedicated at the exploration of magecraft from the Age of Gods, as they feel modern magecraft is completely worthless."

"I'm following…"

"For their part, the Prague Association is one of their larger groups. They are the masters in traditional alchemy and many of the founders of House Einzbern studied under them. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the former recommended Emiya to Old Man Acht. Normally, those under the Wandering Sea are less concerned about the matters of those ignorant of the Moonlit World than the average Magus, but in the last decades the Prague Association has slowly intruded themselves in the mundane world."

"Is Lorenz their ambassador among the world outside the Masquerade?" asked Kotomine.

"He's their leader." Both Kariya and Kirei's eyes opened in surprise. "I don't know why the rest of the Wandering Sea hasn't killed him yet and how Kariya ever heard of him in the first place."

"Well Tokiomi, there's this important non-magical device where you can keep updated in everything you want. It's called Television." That earned the Matou Master another smack from Assassin. "That guy is a chairman in the United Nations, that's how I heard of him!"

"We should focus in the matter on hand." Interrupted Kotomine. "We can't bring Archer without angering him and Matou might be right in that sending Berserker would be a waste we can't afford."

The three humans were at loss in what to do, but then Kariya felt Berserker speaking in his mind and giving him a crazy idea.

"In other words, we're boned for today, unless…"

"Unless what, Matou?" asked Kotomine.

"Unless we decide to play along with Saber and Rider's rules…"

* * *

"Maiya, did you finish your assignment?"

"Yes, should I get back to the apartment?"

"Negative. Wander around position AC to misdirect Assassin."

"Understood. Take care." And then she ended the call.

Kiritsugu put his attention to the small computer where he was observing the cameras, he had to concede to Saber in using Rider's unexpected intrusion as additional reinforcements for the eventual assault by Tohsaka and his lackeys was ingenious. He didn't miss the bounded field installed with tools of the Church to keep away the ghosts from the forest.

It did raise suspicions on who may had sent that false letter to Rider. Whoever the party responsible was, they knew about him.

The most likely suspect was the UN-AEC, who after the chaos brought by Saber's escape, perhaps decided to adopt a hand-offs approach and manipulate events to see the Servants in action without risk of getting mauled by those glorified mass murderers. Maiya proposed the alternative of Assassin himself being who sent the letter by proxy, either to set up the competition in a position to let Archer free to kill them all in a fell swoop, or an attempt to sabotage Tohsaka under his own nose.

But now, almost all the Servants were present, and even if he wasn't able to listen what they would say in the backyard, the recorders he installed this morning would ensure that once the wine has done its job, all the guests' motivations, ambitions, sorrows, and other secrets would be laid bare before him, waiting to be exploited.

'_So long as me, Irisiviel and Saber survive to fight the next day, this night will be a benefit for us.'_ The Magus Killer reflected, as he looked on the cameras, warning him of four figures entering the Castle, one of them coming from the wrecked front door…

* * *

"How did you get there?" asked Irisviel, a bit tense about the new arrival.

"Berserker and I followed the trail of broken trees outside," responded Kariya as he limped forwards the garden. "I wasn't expecting a feast over here, though." He was grateful of the bug familiar he snuck inside to hear what was happening in case Assassin and/or Kotomine were manipulating the information they got.

'_And I wasn't expecting Tohsaka putting me at the line with three Servants, two of which I screwed over the day before yesterday.'_ He cursed inwardly. He and Berserker hoped either Kotomine or Tohsaka would be brave and stupid enough to join the feast Rider was providing. Sadly, he was the one put in the ring of fire because of the legitimate reason of him the one who angered the less at the members of the feast, even if they weren't aware – Kariya hoped – of Berserker being the one who struck first blood against Lancer's first Master.

"Your arrival is unexpected, but not unwelcome." Said Rider. "Why didn't you bring Berserker along?"

"And have him break this place apart?" Kariya said with his best impression of bewildered surprise. "I thought a son of Zeus would know the importance of respecting the host's house."

Saber gave a glare at Rider, who timidly scratched his own head.

"Can I join, then?" asked Kariya, raising his good hand. "I promise I won't send Berserker at you unless it's in self-defense."

Saber thought about Maiya's first impression about the Matou's heir. It spoke of him as an angry child with a weapon he barely understood its use screaming against the world, and she was sure if it wasn't for the kidnapping, Tohsaka Tokiomi could've simply dispatched Assassin to kill him. But her ordeals were caused partially because of him being capable of handling that weapon and Kiritsugu's analysis so far gave the impression that the one who had the better chances of taking on Archer and win, would be Berserker.

And since Archer's Independent Action made killing Tohsaka now a suboptimal strategy, _someone_ was needed to soften or outright kill the Servant of the Bow.

"Fine," Saber sighed. "but if I see treachery from you, I'll cut your neck myself."

"Got it," replied Kariya. "Can I have a cup, please?"

* * *

Berserker had mixed feeling in this rescue/sabotage operation. For one part, he was grateful that his plan to bring Rider and Lancer along was successful, and that his chariot destroyed most of the bounded fields installed in the castle – but Kariya was now in the center of the storm that would inevitability start once Emiya found Kotomine and/or Tohsaka.

'_Berserker,'_ he heard his Master's voice in his head. _'I can confirm there are homunculus maids patrolling the castle, so beware of them too.'_

'_Got it, just try to not get drunk there.'_

Gripping in his semi-automatic USP45 pistol (_of course_) that he got in one of Kariya's secret hideouts, Berserker gave a breath to calm his nerves. Had he known Archer would go to hunt Caster tonight, he would had brought to Rider the letter that would convince him to directly fight against Saber instead. He noticed the lower floor from where he entered was filled with traps, most likely to blow up any unlucky mage who dared to enter the lair.

'_And most of them must be enhanced to harm Servants too.'_ After the draw he had with Saber, it was wise from the Einzbern to have some counter measures to alert them that Assassin was mucking around.

Or at least being cannon fodder for Archer and himself.

'_Can you send one of your worms to find out the power center of this castle? The electric one I mean.'_

'_I can, but I'm sure the hosts are aware that I'm Tohsaka's patsy, so I pretty much have to stay here and hope to not get killed when it hits the fan.'_

'_Just don't be a jerk and it may go alright.'_ Replied Berserker.

'_Kinda complicated when Lancer's Master is currently drinking more wine than the rest of us mere mortals. I will call you if something important happens.' _Berserker then felt Kariya cutting the call. He then went upstairs after no finding any trace of Tohsaka's daughter.

"There you are!"

'_Speak of the Devil…'_

* * *

Of all sources of headaches that he's been having these last days, Tohsaka Tokiomi wasn't expecting seeing Balcony in the flesh. Sure, the suspected Dead Apostle was now wearing a ski mask and some street clothes similar to Kariya's, but the small frame and his own gut instinct told him immediately of who he was.

"Are you now in cahoots with Emiya too?" Tohsaka accused

"No." A distortional voice, probably from a technological device, responded him. "Just making sure my current client doesn't get murdered by that psycho."

"Amusing words coming from an undead fiend." Tohsaka said. "Is that why you framed me as an accomplice of the Demon of Fuyuki?"

"Considering you're in bed with Assassin's Master and most likely the Overseer too…" Balcony replied. "Never mind that you stole the Magic Crest of Lord El-Melloi. I don't think his relatives will accept that."

"They will have to." Tohsaka countered. "Lord Kayneth, after he lost his right as a Master, broke the rules of Mystery by invoking the _Casses Circumdat_ and unleashing hundreds of wraiths all across Fuyuki. As the Administrator of Fuyuki recognized by the Clock Tower, it is my duty to maintain the secrecy of Magecraft by any means necessary. That includes killing bloodsuckers like you."

"Sounds like a convenient excuse to me, especially with that Caster cultist around." Balcony said. "But I can always kill you and the Kotomines when it's necessary." He then turned his pistol and opened fire at a camera behind him. "And I'll rather not give Emiya pictures of your death to send at both Rin and Sakura."

"How did you…!" Tokiomi pulled out his Jewel staff. **"**_**Intensive Einäscherung!**_**"**

Flames came out of it, which Balcony jumped again and responded by firing his pistol at Tokiomi. The magus snapped a small jewel, forming a shield that blocked the bullets.

"Where are the tricks you used to defeat Assassin?" Asked Tohsaka. "Why do you lower yourself with such petty tricks?"

"Mystery." Replied Balcony, then opened fire again. Tohsaka this time dodged the bullets.

"You better step up, otherwise your only worth here will be as a warmup before Emiya." Tohsaka taunted as he kept using fire spells at his opponent, yet the suspected enforcer kept firing at him until a clicking sound was heard.

Despite being unfamiliar with current non-magical technology, even Tohsaka knew what that sound meant, and when his foe began to replace his empty clip, the battle mage used this window of opportunity to bring forth a whip of fire and strike at Balcony, whose eyes showed surprise at the attack.

Tohsaka smiled as the flames consumed the other side of the hallway, but he gasped as he saw an orange-colored field in front of Balcony, who looked no worse to wear from the fire.

"You blocked the fire." The magus said. "And I sense little od coming out from you. What more secrets are you keeping from me?"

Balcony answer was a resume of gunfire.

* * *

Kotomine Kirei was thankful that one of Assassin's bodies was currently following Tohsaka.

The arrival of Balcony should've brought an instant explanation on Rider's presence, but the fact that if Balcony were truly responsible of the letter opened the possibility that he lied about his allegiance with House El-Melloi. Unless only the late Lord Kayneth was aware of the existence of this Dead Apostle.

While one eye was keeping watch of the duel, the other one was keeping him alert in another section of the castle, where his own body was looking for Emiya Kiritsugu.

His mind was honed to treat this as another battle, yet his soul was quivering with anticipation. The only man who could give him the answers he desperately needed was in reach, and he would get these answers, one way or another.

While Emiya was nowhere in sight, Assassin's vision showed him Tokiomi gaining an advantage against Balcony, the battle mage managing to push back the gun-wielding Enforcer forwards another room.

He saw how Balcony jumped away from another fire strike, responding with more suppressing fire. Tohsaka instead chose to go for attacks that covered great amount of space, making Balcony waste more bullets. Once the clicking was heard again, Kotomine realized Tohsaka's plan.

The Administrator of Fuyuki immediately made a charged spell that interrupted Balcony's reloading, then he changed to a stance that Kotomine recognized from his own family's Bajiquan. Balcony barely regained his wits before Tohsaka lunched himself in front of him with a single step, followed by a punch in the gut, freezing his movements, and a reinforced kick over his head, burying him to the ground.

"I admit," Tohsaka commented as he regained his breath. "that you forced me to improvise. I hope I didn't offend Kotomine with my sloppy copy of the _Eight Postures of the Buddha Guards_."

Tohsaka brought back his Jewel staff, ready to finish off Balcony.

"_**Zab…"**_

Balcony then manifested his orange field to push Tohsaka away, then jumped out of the floor and made a run forward the nearest staircase. Tohsaka immediately followed him.

"_**-Pruinae Amabael!"**_

In a mere instant, the air was filled with cold and humidity, and Kotomine saw how Tohsaka almost tripped in the now frozen floor. The magus managed to keep his balance with the use of a wind spell, but then one last gunshot was heard across the air, and the bullet passed through his right shoulder, making him drop his Jewel staff.

Assassin's vision changed from Tohsaka's surprised anger, and Balcony's murderous red eyes, yet the latter went back to his escape.

Near a staircase, Kotomine felt a buzz trough his head. He had to cut his vision with the Assassin looking of Tohsaka to respond this new call.

"What it is, Assassin?"

'_We found Tohsaka Rin. She's currently resting in your father's Church, Master.'_

"What?"

'_We saw a car dropping her there. Your father tried to call you, but someone sabotaged the telephone's cables nearby.'_

"Is any of you pursuing that car?"

'_Two of us, but you should communicate with them as soon as possible.'_

"Understood. I'll go find Tohsaka before-"

Kotomine's orders were interrupted by a fiery explosion, and they saw how the section where Tohsaka and Balcony were fighting was demolished and its pieces began to fall into the ground.

* * *

**And done.**

**Counting the "votes" about if should make more interludes here and in SP, I got five in favor versus three against, so I will make more when I feel it is necessary. I warn beforehand that the next one (if there's one) will be after this current version of the Feast of Kings.**


End file.
